New Beginnings
by Miss Mooney
Summary: Set in Harry's 6th year at Hogwarts, new changes have arisen over the summer, leaving the boy to deal with new problems and more Death Eaters! Can be classified as a Severitus Challenge.
1. Default Chapter

Author's Note: This is my first fanfic so bare with me for a bit. The usual disclaimer, all characters are property of J.K. Rowlings, etc.  
  
Harry sighed sadly; looking longingly out his small window with Hedwig perched lightly on his shoulder, he thought about his Sirius, and wishing for about the hundredth time that he was still here. Sure, he had family still living, that is, if you can call the Dursleys family. Sirius was like a father to him and because of his stupid mistake, Harry's 'adopted' father was dead. Cursing at himself, startling Hedwig with a sudden movement, he threw a large potions book across the room, landing on the floor with a loud slam.  
  
"BOY!!!!" Was the next thing he heard along with a charging up the stairs as his Uncle blasted into the room with a seething look on his face. "You! How dare you destroy my house with that...that bloody school book of yours!" Vernon snarled, glowering at him for a few more minutes until he left the room with a huff. Harry breathed again, having had to keep his emotions under control, lest have another Aunt Marge incident. Every time that blasted man showed his face in the room, Harry continually found himself on the brink of doing more underage magic. And with his record, he didn't feel that the Ministry would appreciate this too much.  
  
The clock chimed, alerting the black haired boy that it had just turned midnight, and July 31st at that. A slight smile appeared on his face, realizing he might finally get some news from his friends who seemed to think he'd disappeared off the face of the planet and hadn't sent any owls. "Maybe someone will finally decide to pick us up out of this heck hole..." Harry mused to his faithful owl, stroking her soft white feathers. She nibbled on a finger, her way of showing she cared. Feeling at least a glimmer of hope, he settled back on his bed and let the darkness over take him.  
  
The next morning he was awoken by the hootings of several owls. One he recognized right away as being Pig and had a large package attached to his leg. Professor Lupin...Remus often used another he'd remembered, Harry had to remind himself. At the end of the school year last summer, Remus had asked to be called by his first name, since he wasn't a professor anymore. The peck of owls in his room were hooting shrilly, and he had to grab more water and owl treats to make sure they wouldn't cause too much ruckus, or his Uncle might do something drastic with that blasted rifle he had.  
  
All the owls waited their turn to have the packages removed and a few took off while the rest remained in his room, recovering from long trips. "Let's see what we have here..." Harry mumbled to himself, opening the one from Ron first. His eyes lighted up as he saw a picture of the Weasley family waving at him in the card. Inside the wrapping contained a birthday cake, expertly baked by Mrs. Weasley herself and a large sampler of Weasley' Wizard Wheezes from Ron, Ginny and the twins. He grinned and wished he would've had these when the old hag, Umbridge was still around. Glancing around, the large brown owl he had seen before landed on his shoulder and hooted towards the present from Remus. Harry found a large book on something he'd desperately wanted: How to Become an Animagus. "Thanks man..."  
  
Hermione's parcel had of course another study aid, hoping this year he'd remember to do some of his homework on time. Horror came across his face as he realized that they weren't going to all be in the same classes this year as he was dropping a few and most likely so was she and wouldn't be able to copy her notes. He stashed the little kit of supplies into his trunk, guessing he'd actually need it this year.  
  
More gifts piled up on his bed as he unwrapped them. From Tonks he received a huge book on curses and hexes that he desperately wanted to try out on Dudley, including one that would make him sport a large pig nose for a few days. Moody sent along a larger, working Sneak-O-Scope, which Harry immediately stuffed into an old shirt before it could start spinning madly. "Gotta love Moody and not trusting anything..." Hagrid, and only Hagrid would think to give Harry his next gift, a young wolf cub. "Good lord man. What on earth am I supposed to think of that?!" He sighed, trying to keep the cub from whimpering. "Maybe Remus would enjoy your company more than I..."  
  
A few books and Weasley samplers later, Harry came across a strange bird that he hadn't noticed before. It was a bluish-black raven with a small package on its leg. Confused, since he couldn't think of anyone else he'd be receiving a present from, he opened the present, which contained some very special and hard to come by potion ingredients. "Who...?" He thought, picking up the attached letter.  
  
Happy Birthday Harry. Use the enclosed gift well.  
  
Harry was bewildered. Who was it from? And what did they mean by use it well? He sighed, slumping back down on his bed for awhile, trying to figure out where he'd seen that familiar handwriting before. 


	2. Animagus Attempt

It was early afternoon of his birthday now, most of the owls had returned with messages of thanks for the presents. The last he did was to who sent him the potions with a question of who they were. Harry didn't really expect an answer, but the familiarity of the handwriting was driving him mad. Varg, the name he'd finally settled on for the little wolf cub, was sleeping next to his feet. "Only you Hagrid..." He muttered, hoping he could find a suitable place to hide the pup until he was rescued by the Order.  
  
Realizing belatedly that his stomach was growling from a lack of breakfast, Harry raced downstairs to find his Aunt, Uncle and Dudley sitting at the table eating lunch. "Skipping out on lunch, you ungrateful boy?" Vernon spat, his eyes dancing around dangerously.  
  
"I would've thought you'd be rather pleased. Of course, I could always write to those lovely men you meet earlier in the summer and mention to them that I could always use some real food rather than this wilted lettuce you call food..." Harry said, moving towards the hallway to go back to his room.  
  
Vernon spat, and Harry swore he could hear a hissing from his Uncle's mouth. "You tell those...people...that you're fine and that they don't need to burden themselves with the likes of you."  
  
Harry rolled his eyes and picked up a small sandwich, more to shut up his uncle than anything else and headed back up towards his room. He nibbled distastefully at it as he picked up the Animagus book from Remus. Skimming over the first few chapters, his attention turned nowhere else, not even to notice Varg making a mess on his floor. The book called for him to relax his mind, freeing it of the human nature that it normally was, and to simplify his thoughts. With his Occlumency lessons from the previous year, that wasn't particularly hard anymore. Next he was to focus his attention on his animal form, and seeing as though he didn't know, made it very difficult. He felt his skin tingle as a black layer of fur pushed through, darker in some spots than others. A tugging came from his tailbone as it stretched a bit, and a long tail swished freely as it passed over the back of his pants. "Whoa...wicked cool." He thought, losing strength as the change was happening, and collapsed onto his bed.  
  
"Harry! Harry, wake up!" Was the next thing he heard. Harry groaned slightly and rolled over to where he saw Remus sitting next to the bed. Only it was in the hospital ward of Hogwarts instead of his room on Privet Drive. "Great. Now what did I do?" He thought to himself. The place was coming back into focus as a couple of minutes rolled by.  
  
"Remus..? What am I doing here?" Harry groaned, a sickening feeling running through him as he tried to sit up. A strong, but gentle hand pushed him back down into his bed. "Harry, lay down, you're still very weak. I believe I may have made a mistake in sending you that Animagus book so soon. Alerts went up as you attempted to change and we found you collapsed on your bed, half human, half animal. Quite an accomplishment for your first time, but also very dangerous without a proper instructor to watch over you, or at least another person."  
  
Harry grimaced, realizing just how stupid he'd been, but he was curious about one thing. "Remus? Just what kind of Animagus am I?" He couldn't help but ask.  
  
The man smiled softly and placed a hand on Harry's head and gave his messy hair a ruffle. He was surprised at the length it'd grown to, down about to Harry's shoulders and how his cheekbones had become more prominent since he'd seen him last. "A rare one Harry, very rare. A black leopard."  
  
At that moment Poppy Pomfrey came bustling in, waving her arms at Lupin. "You! You were supposed to let me know when Mr. Potter here woke up! Off with you now, he still needs the rest of his medicine and rest, lots of rest if you ask me. Ohh, that boy can't go two weeks without landing himself in some kind of trouble!" The witch commented, irritated that he wasn't listening. "Out!" She screeched, finally dragging the werewolf by the ear until he was out of the room.  
  
Harry grinned, amused by the display between nurse and werewolf. "Another bloody man who can't spend two weeks out of my ward!" She mumbled to herself, forcing about a dozen or so large vials into Harry's hand, demanding he drink them now. "Come now Mr. Potter. Professor Snape had to specially make these for you, the least you could do is take them."  
  
He glowered at the potions before him. Made...by Snape? Should he trust the man, even though he was in the Order, he was still a greasy git. Sighing, he knew the answer to that as he downed the potions and suddenly felt a great warmth flood through his body. "Guess Snape is good for something after all..." He muttered, placing his head back onto the pillow and drifting off into a deep sleep again.  
  
A clattering of feet came into Harry's hearing a few hours later, leaving him to wake up to a horde of people standing over him. "HARRY!" He heard, guessing straight away it was Hermione as he was strangled with a hug. "Uhh, hi there Hermione." He mumbled softly, trying to shove her away gently. "It...wasn't this bad, was it?"  
  
Professor Dumbledore stepped infront of the group of Weasley's, Remus and Hermione, and to Harry's surprise, Snape, with an expression of almost concern on his face. He shook it off and glanced at the Headmaster. "Harry, you were asleep for three weeks. We weren't sure if you were going to wake at all. Attempting to become an Animagus without a qualified instructor." He shook his head, "Remind me to take away Remus's owl privileges," Dumbledore said with a small twinkle in his eye. "You were very lucky the house had alerts on it otherwise the Dursleys might have been left with a lovely, and not to mention hungry, black leopard roaming around the house with not an inclination as to who he really was. Now, as there is only about a week before the semester starts, I do intend to keep you under my eye for the remainder. As for the rest of you, I'm sure you'll be able to see Harry once you're back at school and he's more himself."  
  
Mrs. Weasley complained, arguing why Harry shouldn't just be allowed to stay at their house for the time, saying that he'd need to gather supply for the upcoming year. Dumbledore shook his head and waved the family and Hermione out, leaving only Remus and Snape in the ward along with Poppy. "You know Professor, Mrs. Weasley was right. I am going to need my supplies..."  
  
"Ahh, my dear boy, no need to fret. In a couple of days when you have recovered fully I shall have a duo of Order members escort you into Diagon Alley where you'll be able to restock on what you'll be needing." He chuckled and swept out of the room, leaving the two men standing over him. It was odd seeing Snape there, and almost worried. He would've laughed had it not most likely brought about a swift snarl and detention. The man gave him a final look and followed suit to Dumbledore's actions and left as well.  
  
"You know Remus, I could sworn I'd just saw a look of concern on Professor Snape's face." Remus chuckled to himself, remembering to mention that to him. Harry managed to get out of bed, struggling to get to his feet and stretch his stiff legs. It surprised Remus just how much he'd grown just in those two weeks time. His body had gotten taller, fleshed out a bit and his face seemed so familiar, just, not James for a change. The hair was what really made the appearance so different. After having seen Harry for three years with short, messy hair, it was shoulder length and for the first time he'd ever seen, actually behaving.  
  
"Well, what do you know? Maybe the git does have some feelings," The werewolf chuckled, moving behind Harry and giving him a big bear hug, or rather a big wolf cub.  
  
This brought about Harry's memory. "Varg!? Where is he? Hagrid had sent me a wolf cub for my birthday, obviously he thought it was amusing, but a wolf can't be set loose in the Dursleys house! I mean.." He was cut off there by a hand calming him down. "Calm down Harry, we found him and all your belongings and they were transported here, although the cub was sent back down to Hagrid. Good lord, I wanted to kill that man myself for sending that thing."  
  
Harry smiled inward, remembering something else. "Remus? Do you know of anyone else besides my normal friends who would send me a birthday present? I received a present of rare potion ingredients from someone the day I was found, but there was no name on it."  
  
Remus stroked his chin for a moment, "I do believe I do, but I'm not sure if I want to be the one to tell you that. I think the culprit should have to identify them self," He grinned, removing himself from the room and leaving Harry with a bewildered and slightly annoyed look on his face. 


	3. Snape's Legacy

Harry was annoyed. Here was his friend holding information from him, just like everyone else in the wizarding world. He grumbled and paced by his bed, still trying to figure out who had sent him the present. The handwriting was familiar, and he knew it wasn't that of Tom Riddle or Voldemort, or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, if you were going to say it the wimpy way. Scowling, he flopped onto his bed and beat the pillow with his hands a few times.  
  
"Curiosity kills the cat, literally now doesn't it?" A cool voice said behind him. Harry looked behind him to see his potions professor billowing down the aisle of beds. "The headmaster sent me up here to see if you were in need of anything as Madam Pomfrey was relieved for the evening."  
  
"Oh um, no professor, I don't need anything. But, what do you mean by your statement? 'Curiosity kills the cat?' Are you referring to the fact that my Animagus form is a feline?"  
  
"I'm impressed Mr. Potter, you were able to come to that conclusion much more quickly than I had thought. Remus told me that you were asking people who sent you a certain birthday present." The black haired man sat down on a chair next to the boy, gazing out a nearby window. A few idle birds flew by now and then and finally turned his thoughts back to Harry. Remus was right; Harry did look different than he had the year before. His longer hair, not to mention hair that was tidier than it ever had been, gave him the illusion of a familiar face.  
  
Harry brought the man back to reality. "Sir? Are you saying you know who sent the present to me?" Once again the man fell silent. At that point Dumbledore came striding into the room. He glanced at both Snape and Harry, sighing softly. "Severus, something that was supposed to be told, hasn't yet, has it?" The boy glanced up at his Headmaster, wanting to know what was going on. "Sir?"  
  
"Sorry Harry. This might be easier to understand with the help of..." Dumbledore swished his wand and a mirror appeared in his hand, "This." He handed it over to Harry. "Take a look, please." A loud gasp and the sound of shattering glass were heard momentarily later. Snape turned his gaze from the startled boy towards Albus. "Is he alright, sir?" The potions master asked, seeing Harry unconscious in his bed. "I'm not sure, Severus. At this point I think he needs to hear his entire history. I know it'll be hard, you having only learned it yourself recently, but it needs to be done."  
  
Severus stared down at the young man in the bed, hoping he'd come to soon. A story needed to be told, and he wasn't sure if he'd have the courage to tell it much longer. Luckily for him, a stirring followed by a groan came from under the covers, letting him know that the time had finally come. "Someone please tell me what I saw in the mirror was a dream..." Harry groaned, rolling over and looking Snape straight in the face. "You're the last person I'd expect here..."  
  
The man sighed. "Harry, you need to listen to me. The image you saw in the mirror, it wasn't a dream." Harry gulped from the bed. "But, that would mean somehow I'm related to you..." Severus smiled slightly inside, seeing that Harry wasn't such a complete idiot all the time. "There is something you need to know. I didn't know it myself until a few weeks ago when Albus and Remus were talking to me. It seems that I, not James, am your father." Harry stared up in horror, not wanting to confirm what he saw in the mirror as actual truth. Since he'd left for the summer, he hadn't had the chance to look at his reflection, and even while he was in school the previous year, he hadn't noticed the changes too much. "How...how is that even possible?" Harry pressed, wanting an answer.  
  
Snape had expected this, it'd taken him awhile to let the truth sink in when he had first been told, but he'd had the last three weeks to prepare himself. "In my last year of school, I secretly went out with your mother, Lily. Not too many people knew about this, especially not James or Sirius, mainly only Albus, Remus and a couple of other collected souls we thought we could trust. Later that year, I never thought it would happen, but it did. Lily knew she was pregnant right away. She never told me though, which is why all of this was told to me earlier when Remus saw you first and went to Dumbledore. During that time I had been tricked into becoming one of Voldemort's followers. Everyone thought I'd went willingly, but that's a lie. Once I'd met your mother, I'd wanted nothing to do with the slimy git, pardon my expression. Your mother, crushed, turned to the only one who she had taken a liking to, James Potter. They were, of course, promptly married out of Hogwarts and most likely James never knew of your true heritage or he possibly might have told his fellow peers. I never would have guessed Lily had been pregnant or that you were my son."  
  
Harry stared down into his blanket, feeling his longer hair drape around his neck, and tried to tell himself that this was all a dream. It'd be over soon and he'd go back to hating his potions master and vice versa. "It's not a dream, is it?" Snape shook his head. "I'm sorry, ...Harry." The boy blinked, "Did you just call me Harry?" A smile spread slowly on either face, similarly executed one at that. "Do that again and I might just have to call you ...dad." He smirked, mirth alive in his eyes, and for the first time he could ever remember, Snape threw back his head and chuckled.  
  
"I must say, you're taking this better than I did. Then again, you probably think you're still dreaming," He grinned, tentatively placing a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Well, unless I'm mistaken, you can't smell things in dreams, and I smell someone who needs to wash the gel off his hair," Harry teased, getting the old look back from Snape, although, only lasting momentarily. "I wouldn't talk there, Harry, because I see a boy who hasn't taken a shower in about three weeks," and to Severus's amusement, he saw a new look of horror on the boy's face as he thrashed around for his wand, wanting to do a cleaning spell on himself. He was calmed by a hand moving him back towards the bed, making him lay back down.  
  
"I believe I'd better go, Harry, or Madam Pomfry will have my head for getting you riled up," Severus mumbled, giving Harry a soft squeeze on his shoulder before getting up to leave.  
  
"Umm, ...dad?" Harry started uncomfortably, "Was it you who sent me the potions present?"  
  
"That I did. I'd only just found out you were my son and realized it was your birthday, not to mention you'd received an O on your Potions Exam, much to my surprise and delight. Thought that they might be useful for the upcoming year."  
  
"I thought I'd recognized that D somewhere before..." Harry mumbled, starting to drift off to sleep.  
  
Severus couldn't help but laugh to himself as he walked silently out of the ward. 


	4. Full Moon

It was a cloudy morning, looking dreary and about ready to pour at any given moment. Harry stood at the windowsill, gazing out with an empty look on his face. He hadn't had the courage yet to look into a mirror and see if he had another vivid dream or if it was completely true. Frankly, he hadn't wanted to know at this point. Was... he really Snape's son? It wasn't really all that impossible as he thought about it. Lily was about the only one who treated Severus like a person outside the Slytherin house. He shook his head, remembering when he'd looked into Snape's pensieve last year, where he'd felt sorry about what he saw and what James had done.  
  
"Harry?" A soft voice asked, now standing beside him. Harry looked and saw Remus gazing out the same window. "Are you alright?"  
  
The boy rested his chin on top of his hands, sighing and turned his head away from Remus. He wasn't entirely sure if he wanted to talk to the man at the moment, or hear what he had to say. Starting slowly, "I wasn't dreaming last night, was I...?" Hoping for any kind of mention of that he was and it had all been a bad dream. Remus didn't look at him, which Harry immediately took as a bad sign.  
  
"No."  
  
It was all that needed to be said to confirm Harry's fears. "Remus? Would you be my teacher for becoming an Animagus? I mean, I trust Professor McGonagall, but, you just..." Harry broke off trying to take his mind off things, looking up to see the werewolf beaming at him. "Gladly, Harry, gladly. Just this time I think we'll make sure you don't have a family of Dursleys to try and eat if the leopard gets hungry."  
  
Harry smirked, making him laugh loudly as he escorted the boy from the hospital ward. "I do believe you're ready to go get yourself in trouble again and in oh, say about two weeks, you'll be back here according to Poppy," Remus grinned wickedly. Harry shot back a look that could kill if he knew the right spell, but luckily for Lupin, he didn't.  
  
After a few minutes and being near the Great Hall, Remus broke apart from Harry. "Dumbledore has granted you permission to roam the grounds, but no transforming attempts alone or else he'll have my head. And, you know what? While you're at it, no sneaking off, going into the Forbidden Forest, or just plain going places you aren't supposed to. And just to let you know, tomorrow I'll be escorting you to Hogsmead."  
  
Now Harry was left alone to his own devices, and seeing the Great Hall, realized just how hungry he was. There weren't any professors around to ask where he could get some food, but remembered the previous years and sneaking down to the kitchen to get food from the house elves. He grinned and made his way down there, knowing this time he wouldn't get in trouble for being out past curfew or such. "Harry Potter! Dobby is so glad to see you again, sir! We've missed you!" The small house elf squeaked, running around frantically to get the boy food. "Here! Pastries and cakes and breads, all for Mister Harry Potter!" Harry struggled under the weight of the food that was placed in his arms and stumbled out of the room and back towards the Great Hall to nimble on the food where it was still deserted.  
  
"Enjoying yourself?" A drawling voice asked from behind. Harry turned his head to find Snape standing there. "I, uh, not especially," he admitted. He missed his friends and at this point, didn't know where he stood with Snape. "Miss Ron and Hermione. They never wrote to me this summer, not even on my birthday." Severus looked down at the boy who'd rested his head on his hands, staring blankly out at the wall. "Being alone all summer with a family who doesn't care about you and then have friends who don't write to you?" A small tear formed at the edge of Harry's eye. He hadn't intended to tell Snape all this, but it hurt and he needed someone with an ear whom was in the Order and could therefore, trust, even if it wasn't his first choice. Snape on the other hand, raised an eye from all of this; here was Harry already telling him something without the use of Veritaserum. "And then losing my only real family last year. Sirius..." Harry rubbed his eyes, not wanting to let the tears loose.  
  
"Sirius, while we weren't close, was a good man," Harry chuckled at Snape's reply. "There's the understatement of the year. I though you hated him more than you did me." The familiar smirk appeared on the man's face, showing his distaste for Sirius once again. "He was one of the first who believed I was in with Voldemort on my own free will, him and James. Those two always thought that I enjoyed all his prattle. No, I hated them because they turned Lily on me." He was silent for a moment. "Sir? You really wanted no part of the Dark Arts?" To this, Severus smiled slightly. "That isn't entirely true. I did enjoy many of the curses and hexes, but to be in the lot of Voldemort and the Death Eaters was beyond my taste."  
  
Harry's empty look continued, still trying to take everything in step by step. Nothing made sense to him anymore. "I have a question," he started, shifting in his seat uncomfortably, "Where do we stand now, I mean, you've always hated me before..."  
  
"I loathed James," Severus started, "He took the only person I'd every was able to love away from me. I never was able to forgive him or Sirius for what they had done, or myself for being weak and letting the Death Eaters trick me. Those feelings of hatred never left me..." He broke off, for the first time in his life, at a loss for words. Harry had always hated him, he knew that, and couldn't blame him for that, not with how he'd treated him in the past. "Where we stand... I'd prefer to not let this get around the school, especially to the Slytherins, not with all the Death Eater children in there. Although, with how you've grown in the past year, that could be rather difficult," Snape mused, idly realizing with the boy's long hair, it covered his scar exceedingly well. "So..." "Tell who you can trust, leave the rest to either not notice or figure it out on their own."  
  
Snape heaved a sigh as he picked himself up from the table, leaving Harry to himself again. Looking at the man leaving, he found that a parchment had been left on the table and Harry recognized it as being his Marauders Map. "So Snape...dad? Is back in his office, Dumbledore is skiving off his duties and is lounging in the bathrooms; Filch doesn't seem to be on here, perfect, and ah! There you are Remus, hmm, back on the line up of teachers perhaps?" Noticing that he was sitting in the DADA room. He made his way out of the Great Hall and down towards the room, deciding that he wanted to attempt transforming again and thought it'd be best to not annoy Dumbledore again by trying it alone.  
  
Remus smiled lightly as Harry stepped into his room. "Couldn't go a day without attempting it again, now could you? Alright, alright, at least you didn't try it on your own again," he muttered, shooing Harry over towards a seat by his desk. "First, empty your mind and simplify your thoughts and emotions. This should be easy for you since you were studying Occlumency with your father last year, and you might as well get used to hearing that similar phrase..." Noticing Harry's distasteful look on his face. "Now that you know what species you'll be, this will be a bit easier. Concentrate on being the leopard, your fingers becoming paws with deadly claws on each tip. The hairs of your fur breaking through your skin, coating you with a black pelt, spotted with raven black spots. The long tail pushing itself from your backend, your muscles honing themselves into a powerful cat." As the man spoke, the changes swept over Harry, this time going much easier. A problem was there though, the full moon was that very night, and Lupin seemed to have forgotten it in all the excitement of seeing Harry awake. His own transformation went faster than Harry's had, a full-grown wolf was left in the room with a passed out boy who was quickly changing back to human. The wolf snarled being back in control for so long since that damned potion had subdued him. It was time to taste blood again... 


	5. Awakening and Realization

"I'm going to wring his neck!" Mrs. Weasley screeched, pacing up and down next to Harry's usual bed in the hospital ward. "To forget about the full moon, and no less with someone in the room with him! Why I oughta curse him to Mars and back!" She swore, her hands balled tightly into fists. "Whoa," Ron gasped, "I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that." "Normally you are," Hermione chuckled, looking back down at Harry and ceasing.  
  
A stirring came from the bed, letting everyone know that Harry was now awake. He groaned and grabbed his glasses, looking around. "Now what did I do and how long have I been here for?" Mrs. Weasley swooped down and hugged him tightly. "No, no. It wasn't your fault! And you've only been asleep for the night this time." Harry tried to shove her off gently, his left arm hurting quite badly for some reason. The room was full of people, most of the Weasley family, Hermione, Dumbledore, McGonagall, Madam Pomfrey, and once again, a concerned looking Snape. "What's going on...?"  
  
"Err Harry? Do you remember anything about last night?" Dumbledore started, glancing about. "Umm, I went down to the DADA room and found Remus there and asked him to help me attempt my Animagus change again. All I remember is starting the changes and then I think I passed out." "Do you know what day of the month it was yesterday?" Severus asked in that low drawl of his, and saw Harry shake his head. "It was the full moon, and that idiot forgot to take his potion."  
  
Harry's face drained, leaving him pale white and realizing just why his arm hurt. Slowly he worked on unwrapping the bandage and saw the row of teeth marks that just missed his wrist vanes. He slumped back on his bed, wondering just how things could get any worse. His body was achy and he felt extremely tired and dizzy. At that point, Madam Pomfrey came back over and shooed the people out of her way. "Mister Potter, you must take these potions if you're going to heal properly. And that small purple one will kill the pain," She pointed, waiting until he drank all of them with a look of disgust on his face. Standing up slowly, making sure the potions had done their effect, he moved over towards the group of people.  
  
"Is Remus still wolf at the moment?" Harry asked, needing to talk to the man. Severus shook his head. "No, he's hiding in his room, not wanting to come out... Not that I could blame him." A snarl appeared on the man's face. Harry nodded shortly and decided it was time to leave the hospital ward. He didn't exactly want to be there so soon, and the rest followed him up to the Gryffindor Common Room. "So I don't have to worry about changing for a month yet?" Harry asked softly, taking a seat on one of the red chairs. "No." He nodded curtly, and remembered something else and tried to break the silence. "So, is anyone going to take me to Diagon Alley or am I going to have to sneak off again?" Mrs. Weasley hugged him again before weeping softly in the corner.  
  
"I am going to escort you, along with Tonks," Severus said, hesitantly putting a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Ron, Ginny and Hermione are welcome to come along too as if I'm not mistaken, they haven't had a chance to get their items for school yet either. Get dressed and we'll leave soon by Floo Powder." Harry responded quickly, putting on his dark robes to cover up his arm, not really wanting people to know about the bite. He didn't expect to see Lupin anytime soon though; Harry knew he was feeling terrible about what he did.  
  
The five of them took their turn at the Floo Power and fireplace, landing each one in the Leaky Cauldron a moment later. Tonks was already sitting there, a small glass of fire whisky in her hand. "TONKS!" Snape yelled, glaring at her for drinking on the job. She blushed, pushing the half empty glass away. "Sorry," she mumbled, standing up and brushing herself off. They followed the two as they tapped the bricks in the right order, leaving the entrance to Diagon Alley open. "Now, stay together, even though I know you all know this place," Severus said in a cool voice, "You never know what could be around."  
  
They nodded, walking with their two escorts into Gringotts, needing money first before doing anything else. Having to visit three vaults had their stomachs turning with nausea from the wild ride. The next stop was to the Apothecary to stock up on the needed potions ingredients, although Harry already owned the ones he'd need. A few more stops at random stores to stock up on things such as parchment, quills, a new cauldron, and a couple new robes. The last stop was to Flourish & Blotts for the needed books. Each of them picked up the ones from their supplies list and Hermione grabbed about five others that she thought were intriguing. Harry, slipping off unnoticed for a moment looked around at the bestiary section and found a book called, "So You're Now a Werewolf." He skimmed through it for a few minutes before Snape found him sitting alone with the book on his lap. "Harry, the others are ready to leave..." The boy looked up from the book, nodding and placing it with the others he needed to still purchase. "It's for a friend," he mumbled after getting strange looks from the clerk.  
  
The trip back to Hogwarts was uneventful to say the least. Harry settled himself back into the Common Room with Ron, Ginny and Hermione sitting around him. Their parents had decided just to let them stay there until the semester started in less than a week, their stuff already transported into their dorms. "Harry, it won't be so bad. You'll see. Especially with the potion that they have out now," Hermione said, trying to comfort him when she saw what book he was reading. "And Remus will be around to answer questions you have," She whispered softly. "Thanks 'Mione." It was getting late and he and Ron headed up towards their dorm, leaving the two girls to find their own. Harry tossed and turned in his bed for a while, finding it hard to be able to fall asleep. Finally, probably hours later he drifted off, but into disturbing dreams that would make his ex- divination teacher have a hay day with trying to interpret them.  
  
He woke up the next morning, feeling rather tired and traipsed down towards the Common Room, surprised to see that it was already full with people. All his professors were there, along with Tonks and much to his annoyance and need, Remus as well. His friends had already gotten dressed and made there way towards the table filled with food. He was motioned to sit down and eat by Severus, realizing just how hungry he was. After eating his fill of toast, fruit, and pancakes, Dumbledore started, "I presume you've all heard now about the other night's events," Remus flushed and tried to leave, although was held back by a struggling Tonks. "A rather unfortunate happening which could've been avoided had the two been a bit smarter in their actions. The school is equipped to handle this now, especially with Severus's ability to brew the needed potion to have him keep his own mind. I'm not certain that the Shrieking Shack will be a safe place for Harry this year, so another room will be needed, something like the Room of Requirement." Dumbledore looked sadly at Remus. "I need you to stay at Hogwarts for awhile, I'm certain you understand why."  
  
The room slowly filed out, leaving only his friends and Snape in the room. "Umm, sir? Why are you still here?" Ron asked, wondering why the potions master hadn't been the first to leave. "For your information Weasley, I need to talk to Harry for a few minutes," He said coolly, getting a startled look from Ron, Hermione and Ginny from using his first name. He sat down on one of the broken in chairs next to the boy, giving the others their first real look at the two of them next to each other. Hermione, being the genius that she was, let out a small gasp but kept silent. "Have you told them yet?" Harry shook his head. Ron looked over, bewilderment on his face. "Told us what?" "Professor Snape is my father."  
  
Ron stood there with a dumbfound look on his face, Ginny squeaked in terror and Hermione didn't look surprised as she had a moment ago. "Uh, Harry? Mate? Are you sure you didn't hit your head or something last night?" Harry shook his head no again. "No, Ron, I'm telling you the truth," he scowled softly, giving his face a look like a younger Snape's and making it quite clear for Ron. "Harry, I know what you're saying is true, you can't deny it with how you've grown... But how can this be?" She asked, staring directly into Snape's eyes. Their potions master delved back into his history, leaving astonished looks on their faces.  
  
"Good lord. First Harry gets bitten by Lupin and now we find out he's Professor Snape's son. I'd swear that he's got a bad luck charm floating around him." Severus glowered down at the blabbering boy and he got the hint and shut up. "Genderphus!" Smirking to himself, he saw the red haired boy become a red haired girl. "Professor Snape!" Cried Hermione, "You shouldn't do that!" "Oh don't worry. It'll wear off in a few days, Miss Granger. Besides, perhaps he'll grow some intelligence while waiting to change back."  
  
Harry scowled at his father, wondering just how on earth he could be related to a man like that. He was pulled aside a moment later. "Harry, I know that doesn't make me look good, but I do have to keep up my reputation of being a slimy git of a potions master..." Harry broke a smile slightly, not sure as to what to say. "Oh, by the way, I do believe you never got the chance to look at these..."  
  
Dear Mr. Potter, Enclosed are your O.W.L. results from last year. Good luck with your future.  
  
Herbology- E Astronomy- A Defense Against the Dark Arts- O Divination- P Transfiguration- E Charms- O Care of Magical Creatures- O History- D  
  
Potions- O  
  
Harry smirked; at least something good had come out of the day. "I must ask, how on earth did you pull off an O on your potions exam?" Snape pressed, still unable to fathom that one out. "I uh, felt more comfortable without you standing there and breathing down my neck, Sir," Harry admitted. "Don't call me sir, Harry." The boy shifted uneasily in his seat again, not really sure what to say. He knew sooner or later he'd have to accept the truth, especially every time he looked into the mirror, but it hurt him, knowing that the person who'd made his life a living hell at times was now revealed as his father. "Are you okay... son? I didn't have the chance to speak with you since you were bitten." "Umm, the potions you sent Madam Pomfrey worked, if that's what you mean."  
  
The man shook his head. "No, Harry. I meant mentally. Physically, well, we all know what's going to happen, but I know you've had problems in the past with certain incidents."  
  
Harry slumped back down into his seat, sadness in his eye. "The remaining tie to my family, now, I don't know if I can trust anymore. I know he didn't mean it; it was my own stupidity for being down there alone with him anyhow. But he was someone I could go to whenever I felt there was no where else to turn."  
  
Snape sighed; he wasn't sure what to say or how to comfort the boy. "That man," he began, a look of hatred flickering for a moment in his eyes, "Should have been more responsible. Forgetting it was the full moon and not taking his potions. What an idiot he was! Now look! I find out I have a son and Lupin goes and turns him into a werewolf!" He snarled for a moment, forgetting Harry was standing next to him. Snapping back to reality, he turned his head and looked at his boy, "First potion we'll be doing is the one that the numbskull forgot to take and that you'll be needing next month. Just don't let this slip to the Slytherins or you'll be in for some serious trouble from them and the Death Eaters."  
  
"Umm, right."  
  
"Are you going to call me 'Umm' for the rest your for life?" Severus chuckled, leaving Harry to his own thoughts for the time being. 


	6. Hogwart's Havoc

Harry paced about his room; tomorrow it'd be filled with his classmates and right now he was irritable. Since the other day, he'd met up with nobody besides his three friends and a grumpy Filch cursing them off for using a couple of dung bombs on his cat. He'd managed to finish up all his essays that were due over the summer, but it left him with nothing better to do than mope along the corridors looking for something to do or someone to talk with. Hermione finally had enough of it.  
  
"Harry, if you really want to talk to someone, just use your Marauders' Map to find them," She scolded, holding the parchment out towards him. Harry smacked himself in the head, realizing just how stupid he'd been. "So, Dumbledore isn't even on the premises, McGonagall seems to be holding out on us and raiding the kitchens, Filch is of course snarling in his office, Remus is, huh, must be where he's staying for the duration, and Snape/Dad is," He did a double take. "What's he in the Room of Requirements for?"  
  
His curiosity got the better of him as he ran up towards the room wondering what his father needed to be in that room. It was a long ways away from the Gryffindor house and he was panting by the time he got up there. Not wanting to be real obvious, he cooked up a scheme as to why he was up there along the lines of wanting to find out more about what had happened and things he could do about his new werewolf-ism.  
  
The door creaked open; Snape's keen ears ear this right away, but didn't turn. He knew who it was. What he didn't know was why he was here. "Harry, what are you doing here?" "I, umm, remembered this room from last year and I thought it might be useful for, you know..." He mumbled. Severus attempted to use his legilimency skills to see what the boy was really up to. Although, to his surprise he was presented with a cloudy look into Harry's mind and could only partially make out what he wanted. He raised an eye. "I take it from that you've been keeping up with your Occlumency practices," and saw the boy give a swift nod. "Impressive to say the least, not many can break away from my legilimens skill."  
  
Severus smiled to himself as he saw the boy flush with embarrassment of being complimented. Harry positioned himself on a puffy large chair in front of a cauldron. "Umm, sir... Dad? What are you doing up here?"  
  
"Now that sounds more like the reason why you're here," Snape mused, taking the seat next to his son's. "I was looking at the old volumes on werewolves to see if there was anything I could make of them, or if those healer- idiots might have overlooked something when discovering that certain potion." Harry was genuinely surprised to hear this. "You mean you're actually looking for a way to help me?" He asked. His father smiled, which looked foreign on his face, and replied, "We don't really want two werewolves running around the school grounds, now do we?"  
  
He settled back down onto his chair, a large book sitting in his lap and looked back over at his boy, "I'm sorry Harry, I've had more time to adjust than you have. You know, I'd always thought you had this charmed life until Remus told me otherwise. Every summer I thought you were going home to a perfect family where you were loved and spoiled rotten. Never once had I thought Lily's muggle family could be so awful."  
  
Harry suddenly chuckled loudly to Severus's amazement. "To see the look on my Uncle's face when he hears about this. He thought an ex-convict was bad... So have you found anything?" Quickly changing the subject. Snape could tell that Harry was still uncomfortable around him, it didn't surprise him, but somehow he was going to have to change this.  
  
"No, not at the moment. I'm sure something will be in here though. It's not called the Room of Requirement for nothing, now is it? Maybe if I don't find anything right now, you'll find it on your long times of staying in here on the full moon. I don't know rightly. You probably want nothing to do with him right now, but Remus is staying here while you have your first few transformations to help you through it, sin-..."  
  
"PROFESSOR SNAPE!" Came a high-pitched voice, and the two turned to look. Ron...Ronda stood there looking very angry with her hands on her hips. "You said that this spell would wear off in a few days!"  
  
Snape couldn't hold back a laughter, which annoyed the Ronda even more. "Sorry Weasley," He snorted, pulling out his wand and reversing the spell. "I do hope you gained some intelligence through that at least." Ron huffed and stormed out of the room, miffed at being laughed at.  
  
"That actually was amusing..." Harry began slowly. Severus looked down and grinned, "I bet you'd love to try that one on Malfoy sometime, no?" Harry burst out laughing, wanting to know if it could be made more permanent. For the first time, he smiled at his father, and in an almost affectionate sort of way. The clocks chimed 11 at night, leaving him with a now protective father. "Harry James ...Potter? Snape! Get your butt up to bed this instant! Your first day starts tomorrow and I do not want you falling asleep in the middle of your first class!"  
  
Harry grinned slightly, thinking his potions master and father sounded like Mrs. Weasley, but wasn't going to tell him that unless he wanted to find himself turned into a girl like Ron had. Turning to go away, he did something to startle his father; he gave him a quick hug and then turned away without saying a word.  
  
The next morning he woke up and found that the castle was still deserted. "Such an idiot I can be. Classes don't start till tomorrow morning..." He walked idly down the staircase and into the empty common room. "Breakfast...I need food." He muttered, looking at the large clock and finding that it said 10 am. "Harry!" A voice called, and Hermione ran up next to him. "Here, I grabbed this from breakfast this morning since I didn't see you up." "Thanks Mione." The two walked down to the doors and then out onto the grounds near the Quidditch field. Harry seemed more tired than normal, but she supposed it was a side effect of being bitten. Well, he still had three more weeks until he had to deal with that for the first time. "Do you know if you'll be allowed to play Quidditch this year?" Harry shook his head. "Dumbledore and McGonagall already tried to persuade the Ministry to take off the ban, but it seems they felt the punishment was just. Even if they hadn't though, I don't think I could this year. Not with everything going on and now, well, the werewolf thing. Don't think it'd be good if the teammates found out what I had..."  
  
A soft breeze swept across the grounds, dancing around in Hermione's still bushy hair and pushing Harry's own shoulder length hair out of his face. For awhile the pair sat out there doing nothing until Severus found them and mentioned that the ceremony would be starting soon and that they should get changed into their robes. Harry smiled again, still telling himself that someday he could do that without feeling awkward.  
  
From the large windows in the Great Hall, Harry watched the first years cross the lake in the boats with Hagrid leading them. He'd always arrived with the others, well, with the exception of his second year, and it was different to watch the others pile into the castle and see the house elves bustling about with the student's luggage. Most filed into the Great Hall immediately, leaving only the first years outside the doors. Teachers took their rightful spots at the head table and Harry couldn't help but sneak a glance at who was teaching DADA this year. He did a double take. That wasn't Tonks sitting there in Professor clothes and laughing merrily with his other teachers, was it? She caught his gaping stare and waved at him, this time having long black hair and an expression similar to Harry's own. If he didn't know any better, he'd say she was mocking out Snape by using her own special ability to change her looks. Smirking exactly like his father, he waved back and headed towards his seat.  
  
"Dear friends, professors and fellow trouble-makers, I welcome you back to another year at Hogwarts," Dumbledore said grandly, his eyes twinkling down at the first years filing in and moving between the aisles of long tables towards the tattered hat sitting on a chair. He went on with his usual welcoming speech and then motioned to McGonagall to proceed with the Sorting. To Harry, it was a long and drawn out process and wanted nothing more than to eat once Dumbledore decided to make food appear. And he was already getting sick of the looks people were giving him. Once they had been for the scar on his forehead, but he knew that they couldn't see that now with his long hair covering it up. Many of them were bewildered as to why the famous Harry Potter looked like he was the son of Snape. Scowling, he turned his head to his plate, finally seeing it fill up with food.  
  
People continued to ask him questions all during the feast, most which he answered with a simple, "I don't know," and left it at that. He'd eaten and now he just wanted to be left alone in his dorm, but remembered his roommates had returned and would be invading in a matter of moments. Neville was the first to arrive, plopping down on the bed next to Harry and looking at him strangely. "Don't take this the wrong way, but you remind me of my worst nightmare..." Neville admitted, backing up incase Harry did find it offensive and decided to hex him. Instead the boy sighed and turned his head towards the window. "I am your worst nightmare. Mine too... Snape is my father."  
  
A loud clunk came from behind as he found Neville, Seamus, and Dean passed out on the floor. Moments later Ron came up, a treacle treat clutched in his hand. "Whoa, what did you do to them?" "I'll give you one guess." "You didn't tell them already did you?" "Well, only that Snape was my father. I do believe they don't need to know about the werewolf thing at all." It was left at that and Harry fell into an uneasy sleep.  
  
He groaned softly, waking up before the rest of his roommates and getting dressed so he could avoid their questions. Quickly he stole down towards the Great Hall, hoping that breakfast would be there soon. "Son?" Harry whipped around; still feeling exhausted, he tripped over his feet and landed in Severus's arms. "Oww..." "I wanted to know how you were doing this morning. I expect that your fellow 6th years had a certain question to ask you." Harry nodded curtly. "Neville guess before I could even tell him. Seamus and Dean over heard him." "Really, I suppose the boy does have a brain after all."  
  
Harry picked himself up out of his father's arms just in time as Draco came strutting down the hall. "So, Potter, gotten yourself into trouble with Professor Snape already, haven't you? Well, at least you won't be there to disrupt my learning this year. You, the remedial potions boy, probably couldn't even scrap by with a P on your OWLs in that potions," Draco continued, considering himself to be above the rules now with his own place in NEWT potions. He smirked again, leaving the two alone as he drifted off to the Great Hall.  
  
Snape glanced down, seeing his son's wand already out and trying to whisper a hex, and brushed his arm against to make him stop. "Really, Harry. What's gotten in to you? Trying to hex someone from behind is something only a Slytherin would do," the man smirked. "Can I tell you something? The Sorting Hat did seriously consider putting me into Slytherin. But I asked not to be since I'd heard so many wizards and witches have gone bad from that house. It wasn't certain though when it placed me in Gryffindor, said I had too much of a disrespect for the rules. Guess it was right..."  
  
So, Harry could've been placed into Slytherin. Severus felt a sort of pride with this, knowing that his boy would've done well in there, had it not been full of Death Eater children. Shaking his head in disbelief, he shooed Harry off to the Great Hall without him as to not cause a further commotion.  
  
"Yo, Harry, McGonagall just passed out the schedules. Looks like we have DADA together with Hermione, charms and Transfiguration along with it. Ouch, looks like you're in for it after all with getting into Snape's potions class. At least Hermione will be there to pull you out of a rough spot. I was lucky to get an A on my OWL exam, mate, but I'll be happy in Muggle studies. Dad'll be proud of me at least," Ron rambled on, leaving Harry to look over the rest of his schedule. Include with the others he had Care of Magical Creatures, but only once a week this year, along with Herbology and history. He looked down to see what he had first this morning; double potions.  
  
As much as Harry didn't fear his father attempted to murder him in someway during potions classes, it didn't mean the rest of the Slytherins wouldn't. He walked in, being one of the first ones there along with Hermione and sat more in front where Malfoy wouldn't dare sit. Noticing they were relatively alone, his father walked over cautiously and whispered, "Sorry, but I still have to be a slimy git infront of you during classes. Just, I'll refrain from taking away house points and make sure that Draco tries to behave this year," he muttered, quickly moving away as he saw the blonde haired boy enter the room, along with the rest of the class behind him.  
  
"This is NEWT standard potions, so all of you must have something in that brain of yours if you've made it this far," smirking to himself as he saw Malfoy notice for the first time that Harry was in the class. "Our first potion will be a complex one that will come in handy if you ever meet up with a werewolf, I daresay. You have two hours, directions are on the board and ingredients can be found on my desk and in the Student Cupboard."  
  
Harry realized that his father wanted him to gain experience making his own potion for when it was needed incase he was unable to for some reason. "Smart, I guess. Just hope I'm able to do it..." Had Draco not been in the class, he most likely would've succeeded, but that's a fool's hope. As soon as his potion was almost done, looking similar to the color that was described on the board and getting a quick glance of approval from Severus, something was thrown into his cauldron, making it explode all over Hermione and a couple of Ravenclaws. Snickering came from the opposite side of the room and Snape stared down at Malfoy.  
  
"Mister Malfoy, I would have expected better of you. 20 points will be taken from Slytherin for your insolence in this classroom. Doing something like that in a NEWTs class, I swear, sometimes I think your brain is a pile of mush. Potter!" He snapped, "Take the people who have been splashed with your less than perfect potion up to the hospital wing. NOW!"  
  
Harry acknowledged him and grabbed Hermione by the arm and motioned for the Ravenclaws to follow him. "Harry, I don't feel so well," Hermione started, beginning to swoon and finally collapsing on the floor. The other two followed suit a moment later and rushed to get help. The first person he ran into was Remus Lupin, who had been patrolling the halls. He hadn't seen him since his last attempt to turn into his Animagus form and saw the tears of grief in the man's eyes. "No time for that now, help me get these three up to the hospital wing!"  
  
"What happened?" Remus gasped hoarsely, conjuring a few stretches that floated the unconscious bodies up towards the wing.  
  
"Potions. Malfoy threw something into the werewolf potion we were working on, I know you know what that is very well," Harry grimaced, Remus taking the hint and looked apologetically over. "Do you know what it was?" "Err, no, all I can say is that it blew up and splattered these three, and umm, dad told me to get them up to the hospital wing right away. Now that you mentioned it, he did look rather worried and for the first time ever, punished a Slytherin." "Uh oh. For that slimy git to punish his own house, it must be bad. And umm, Harry? Since when was Hermione's skin red?"  
  
"THAT IDIOT BOY! JUST WAIT TILL I GET MY HANDS ON HIM!" Screeched Madam Pomfrey, "Oh, I'll make that boy do detention with me and without magic! Throwing unknown potion ingredients into the werewolf serum!" She continued on, fussing over the three unfortunate souls who'd been next to Harry. "Are...they going to be alright?" He asked tentatively. "Oh fine, but not for awhile. At least not until they change back into human...And no, before you ask, it isn't permanent, unlike your own unfortunate problem I might add."  
  
Harry looked down at his friend and fellow classmates, finding them half wolf and half human. 


	7. His First Time

"Oh, you're in for it now, Malfoy," Harry snarled, stroking his friend's face, hoping she'd get better soon. He knew it wasn't permanent, thank heavens, but it still meant Hermione and the two Ravenclaws missing out on lessons for a while. "Damn you..." A few minutes later Madam Pomfrey flounced over, shooing Harry out of there. "I see you enough! Get out of here for now."  
  
Sighing, he did what he was told. The clock said it was almost 3 in the afternoon and his Transfiguration class was starting in a matter of moments. He sprinted as fast as he could towards the classroom, which of course was quite a hike from where he had been. With about two minutes to spare, he flopped down in a middle seat next to Ron and laid his head on the table.  
  
"Harry, mate, what's wrong ...and where's Hermione?" "Draco. The stupid git threw some unknown substance into our potions and it exploded over her and two Ravenclaws. Remember the incident with the Polyjuice Potion and the cat hair? Yea, like that..." Ron grimacing of the memory of seeing his friend half a cat and a long tail sticking out of the back of her robes. Luckily Professor McGonagall striding into the room, interrupting their conversation, her robes floating about her in that haughty look she wore sometimes.  
  
"Now, I expect all of you are at least prepared for this class, seeing how you all managed an E or higher on your OWLs. We will starting the semester with changing this rat into a turtle and see how much you can remember from last year, and I daresay it better be more than my previous years teaching."  
  
Ron groaned at the complexity of the spell she was starting them off on. "I swear that woman has it in for us." Harry shook his head, waving his wand and saying the spell, but was only half successful. The rat had at least turned green and had a hard shell surrounding it. "For not having down any magic during the summer, that was a rather good attempt on your first try," McGonagall muttered to him privately. "Better than last year. But concerning Miss Granger, where is she?" Harry quickly explained, and watched the look of horror on his professor's face. "I'm going to strangle that boy myself! Doing something stupid and dangerous as that in a NEWTs class! I'd expect a 1st or 2nd year to try that, but a 6th year! I thought we had at least gotten through to you that much!" She huffed, trying to calm herself down, but paused for a moment and looked back at him and whispered quietly. "I must say though, I believe you'll exceed at this class after your first change, Mr. Potter. It certainly brought up Remus's grade."  
  
The class ended soon after that, the students piling out of the large chamber and into the halls with others. Harry saw Draco sneer distastefully as he approached. "So, Potter, did Snape transfigure you to look different because he couldn't stand to look at your ugly face?" "No, as the matter of fact, he taught me this little spell since he thought it might come in handy." Harry raised his wand quicker than Draco could grab his and cast his spell. Malfoy screeched as he looked down at his body. "You, Potter, are so dead!" Came the high-pitched voice of a now female Draco.  
  
"Am I going to have to regret using that one in front of you now?" Severus asked, walking up next to Harry. "And to get it to work on the first attempt, impressive. I've heard you had difficulties with the simple spells and yet here you are casting a rather complex one with no problems."  
  
"Professor!" Whined Malfoy, tugging at her robes; "He did this to me on purpose."  
  
Snape rolled his eyes and uttered a rather rude phrase about Malfoy's intelligence. "Well, perhaps he did this because you deserved it in some way?" He pressed, wanting to know from the whining girl what she had said. "Iwaspickingonhislooks..." She said quickly, remembering earlier where points had been taken off Slytherin for her attitude. "In that case I'll leave it up to Mr. Potter to decide when to change you back." Snape stated, almost enjoying himself as he picked on Draco, and saw the now girl huff and run away.  
  
"Now I must know, you were able to cast that high level spell on your first attempt and yet you can barely brew a simple potion at times!" He shook his head, knowing Harry definitely took after Lily in his abilities. "But you aren't the idiotic dunderhead you were when you first stepped into my potions class your first day." Harry stood there looking rather cross. "Teasing, teasing. But most students would have thought to crack open a book before starting their classes..."  
  
Harry's other classes that week went along fairly smooth, Draco avoiding him at all costs and it made listening to the classes much easier without a distraction. Most of his free time he spent up in the Room of Requirements using the books as good resources for his homework and once it was finished, the remaining time he looked up information on werewolves. Sometimes his father would stop in, scanning over a few books he hadn't seen before or just grading papers up there to keep Harry company. Severus knew that many of Harry's friends had distanced themselves from him since they'd heard that first night, others just working it out on their own and decided it would just be easier to avoid him. Ron of course, still clung to him everywhere, making his own appearance once in awhile with Harry as he helped look over books. Other than that, he didn't have too many people to hang around with at the moment, and his only other good friend was still recovering in the hospital ward, and last he'd heard, she was finally starting to look human in the face again. At one point a couple weeks later, Draco finally got up the nerve to approach Harry, but she was shot down by the boy saying he couldn't remember the reverse of the spell. When she'd gone to McGonagall, it was evident that Snape had mentioned the ordeal to her and said she wouldn't undo it, as he'd deserved what he got.  
  
"Harry," Snape started, approaching him on a late September day. "You know what today is, right?" The boy nodded slowly, how could he have forgotten. "Here, I just finished making this since your own was sabotaged. As you might have heard from Lupin, sugar makes it useless so drink it straight and grimace the taste. I've been told to collect the two of you can escort you back up towards your 'special' room," Harry sighed, dragging his heels, dreading what the night was. They came to Lupin's quarters, but Snape stopped Harry for a moment.  
  
"S-son, I wanted to ask you something. Would you mind if I stayed in the room with you, at least until you've finished changing?" He asked cautiously, not knowing how the boy would respond. Harry blinked, looking up at him. "Why?" Was all he said. "Because I'm concerned and quite frankly, I feel I have good reasons to be that way." "Aren't you worried that I'll bite you...?" Snape looked down at him with a smile. "I think I'll take the risk to make sure you're alright."  
  
Lupin opened the door, looking rather tired and pale, as he knew it was time. He accepted the awful tasting potion, Harry wrinkling his nose in disgust as he could still taste it on his tongue. Harry looked at neither of the other two as they walked up the long staircase to the Room. This inside was different this time, as he had expected. The door barred itself with a large iron plank, letting neither in nor out. Along the walls were a pile of cushions for sitting on or tearing, whichever came first, and a long bed for Severus to lie on. A large window let the moon shine in, the time nearing very closely. Harry was shaking badly, sitting down into a corner, and looking away from the two others. A hand came down on each shoulder, one from Remus and the other from his father. Remus didn't want to tell him that even though the potion would let him keep his mind, the changes still hurt, more than he probably knew, and Severus couldn't say he knew what he was feeling or how to comfort him since he had no clue.  
  
Harry looked cautiously up at Lupin, seeing his face hollow out, the dirty brown and grey hairs sprouting from his skin. He felt a similar feeling come from his face, pain shooting through his body as his mouth pushed forward into a long muzzle. The pain was so terrible he lifted his hands up, trying to claw at it, but him arms were caught by a very worried looking father.  
  
"Harry, you need to calm down, I can't tell you I know what it feels like, but hurting yourself isn't going to help at all."  
  
The young werewolf tried, he did, but the pain racking through his body made him just want to strike out at anyone in front of him, hoping to transfer it away from him. He struggled to get his changing arms out of his father's grasp, but it was too strong for him to break. Panting heavily, he went limp under the force, fainting from the throbbing that was in his body. Unlike the previous times he'd blanked out, this one only lasted a few moments. The next time he opened his eyes, the world was black and white to him, still aching in his muscles. A mirror had been in the room but he hadn't noticed it before, and saw a raven black wolf with a white lightning bolt scar on his forehead near a pointed ear. He still had his mind, there was no doubt about that, but it took almost all his will not to attack the other wolf in the room, knowing it was him who'd inflicted this all upon him.  
  
Slowly he got to his feet, padding gently over towards the window and settling down on the fluffy pillows. The scent of meat suddenly filled the air as he saw a large hunk of some unknown animal had been placed infront of him. At first he turned his nose in disgust at eating raw meat, but his wolf body differed and finally won out in the end. As he finished his dinner, he stole a glance at Lupin, who was sitting at the window as well and gazing into the moon, howling mournfully. Harry was surprised to note how well his senses now were. Although the older wolf didn't look it, there was a definite sadness lingering about him.  
  
A sudden arm wrapped around Harry's shoulder, startling him to the point of almost nipping the hand, but suppressed the feeling as he saw his dad try to give him a comforting hug. It was the first time Severus had done this, and for probably about the first time, Harry was truthfully glad he was here.  
  
"I know you can't answer me, but it'll get better. Or at least that's what Remus and Dumbledore have told me. And I know I've never experienced what you just went through, well, unless it was like the Crucio curse, and then in that case, I do have some idea." He saw the wolf nodding his head. "I thought it might. Voldemort loved using that one, I don't doubt you've already experienced it that night in the graveyard. Once you change back tomorrow morning though, I have a half a dozen or so potions for you to take that will ease the pain in your muscles and so you aren't so drowsy as you saw Remus look much of the time when he was teaching here."  
  
He trailed off, seeing his son's muzzle droop towards the pillow and his eyes fluttering slowly as he drifted off into a light sleep. A swift glance around the room let him know that Remus was already curled up and asleep under a nearby table, using it as a makeshift cave. Severus sighed tiredly, remembering just how late it was and that he needed sleep himself unless he wanted to take his own potions the next morning to remain awake during the classes. It wouldn't look too good if their own professor fell asleep during the middle of the lesson. He settled himself down onto the bed, and before letting himself drift off, placed an impenetrable field around himself incase either of the two wolves weren't in their right minds if they woke up during the night.  
  
A soft crying awoke him later, the sun breaking through the windows and he saw Harry on all fours, tears dripping off his nose as they poured out of his eyes. Snape bent down, his own eyes looking at the boy with distress, and used his fingers to lift his son's chin up towards him. "Harry, listen to me, it'll be alright. Shh," Severus was surprised as the boy curled up next to him, using the black robes to dry his face. He could tell it really hurt Harry and pulled the vials of potions from inside his outer robes and poured it slowly into his son's mouth, hoping it'd relieve the pain enough.  
  
"I can't go through it again. I just can't..." Harry sobbed, clinging to his father, feeling a real compassion now alive from the ordeal he'd just faced. 


	8. Hogsmead and Death Eaters

Harry was very quiet for the rest of the day. As soon as he'd broken apart from Severus, he ran out of the room and back up to his quarters in the Gryffindor house. It was Saturday and his dorm hadn't quite been emptied of the rest of his fellow 6th years. Ron was still snoring deeply, and Neville sat on his bed, tugging at a shoe when he caught sight of Harry. "Oh hiya Harry. Where were you last night? Ron wouldn't tell me." "I, umm, had to leave suddenly for the night."  
  
His mind wasn't working and thinking up a plausible excuse definitely was out of his league at the moment. Neville looked strangely at him, but nodded and left Harry to his own devices for a while. He slumped down on the bed, still exhausted from last night and even with the help of his father's potion, he felt like he could sleep forever and a day.  
  
"It must be why Remus always looks so tired all the time. Wonder how long it'll take for myself to start having that under slept look," he thought, staring up at the ceiling until he fell asleep.  
  
"HARRY! WAKE UP!" A loud voice came later, probably about three in the afternoon, and looked over at his redheaded friend. "C'mon Harry! Hermione finally is being let back out of the hospital wing."  
  
"I'd rather just sleep..." he mumbled, but hauled himself off his bed anyhow and threw on some clothes. The halls were filled with students bustling about, glad it was the weekend and had the day to goof off or possibly write a few inches for a paper due on Monday. A few minutes later, their bushy haired friend came near them, a bright smile on her face. "There you two are! I've been looking all over for you. Hey, did you know we have our first Hogsmead trip tomorrow? I'd completely forgotten about it with being in the hospital wing for so long. Harry, you look terrible," She stated, suddenly realizing that it'd been the full moon yesterday. "Sorry, I know it must have been hard. Maybe you'd better just stay here instead..."  
  
"No, I'd rather go. If they find out I'm missing everything, they're going to start asking questions I'd prefer not to answer. Maybe I can get another one of those energy potions before leaving."  
  
Ron and Hermione looked at each other, deciding it was better just to accept his decision than argue. They followed behind, the girl wondering if she should go to Dumbledore or Snape on this to see what they had to say.  
  
Remus came towards them a few minutes later, his eyes full of grief and of course tiredness. "Harry, I-."  
  
Harry holding a hand up cut him off, "Remus, stop. I know you're sorry and didn't mean for it to happen, but it wasn't your fault. When you are wolf, I understand how hard it is not to attack someone, even with the potion. Without it, I don't see how you didn't finish me off right then and there. This I know will help, I forgive you."  
  
They all could see Remus's eyes fill up with tears, having thought that Harry would never talk to him again, never less forgive him. He couldn't help it as he rushed up to the boy and squeezed him in a tight hug.  
  
"Bloody 'ell, mate, I can't breath." Harry gasped, struggling from the embrace. Remus looked embarrassed as he let him go and brushed his robes off. "I was thinking of coming along to Hogsmead tomorrow with everyone, don't think they'd mind too much, do you?"  
  
"Let's see, how many students would want to mess with a Snape looking kid with a werewolf at his side?" Harry laughed, wanting to keep all questions about his recent behavior and looks to a minimal. "Might even be able to ward off Miss Malfoy like that." "HARRY! You still didn't change him back??" Hermione groaned, looking at him with a haughty look. "You're acting more like your father every day."  
  
Everyone had to laugh at that statement, it was just too funny not too. The rest of the day was spent in Remus's quarters with Dobby stopping in with dinner a while later, giving Harry some much needed food. Later than night Harry was found curled up on Lupin's bed, none of them wanting to move him. "Remus," Dumbledore said, announcing his presence with Severus striding in behind. "We've been discussing the situation and thought it might be wise to find a way for Harry to have his own quarters like yours so nightly absences aren't questioned so much. Of course moving him abruptly will cause some questions, but most people are less likely to figure out the real reason." He flicked his wand and Harry disappeared, "But for now, Mr. Potter here needs his rest and is back in his dormitory."  
  
"Where do you plan on having him stay?" Remus questioned, yawning loudly himself. "Oh, I was thinking possibly with you so you'll be able to keep an eye on him and make sure he isn't off getting into mischief," Dumbledore responded with a twinkle in his eye. "Severus was willing to let him stay in his room, but that would be more likely questioned than with you, most everyone knows that Harry was very friendly with you." Remus nodded and was glad to let Harry stay with him.  
  
The next morning Harry woke up, yawning sleepily as he realized it was almost time to head off to Hogsmead. Dashing around, he grabbed his clothes along with a pair of shoes and headed down towards the entrance hall. A large group of people was scattered about and Hermione, Ron and Remus found him a moment later, shoving him through the doors as they neared their destination.  
  
"C'mon! Harry, I want to go visit my brothers since I haven't seen them in like forever," Ron wheedled, grabbing at Harry's arm and dragging him off towards the new joke shop. "RON! Harry! How're you doing?" George called over, shaking his hand briskly. "And, what accident did you have in Potions to end up looking like that??" Fred wondered, looking at Harry's face. They quickly explained, hoping that the twins would be trusted enough not to let it slip out. Ron decided he'd rather spend time with his brothers, leaving Harry, Hermione and Remus to wander off.  
  
After having filled up their pockets with candy from Honeydukes, Harry wanted to head over to Gladrags Wizardwear to pick up a new outfit. He'd gotten some extra cash from Sirius, having left pretty much everything to him in the will, and decided to get some new clothes for when not in class. A soft dragon hide skinned outfit and a considerably lighter pocket of cash; he stepped out, feeling very odd, yet good in his new clothing. After walking around for a bit, each of the three wanted to head over to the Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer and saw the Weasley brothers already sitting there. "Yo! You three, pull up a chair!"  
  
They did, and ordered more butterbeers for all around and sat down with the twins to see how they've been. Things seemed to have been good, the joke shop booming with business ever since the previous year and Umbridge. "We've actually had to hire some help to be able to produce the amount of products being ordered!" Fred cheered, clinking his glass against his brother's.  
  
Harry grimaced; his scar was flooding his head with pain for the first time he could remember in awhile. "Remus," he whispered, not wanting the others to hear. "I think I want to go back. My scar is hurting, badly. I think he's planning on doing something drastic soon."  
  
Remus stared down at him. "Are you certain?" "He's feeling angry, moreso than he has for months since my scar hasn't hurt like this since..." He broke off, knowing Remus would know very well what he was talking about. The man nodded, picking himself up and excusing himself and Harry, saying that he'd just remembered Dumbledore needed to speak with them in a half and hour.  
  
They rushed back, colliding with Severus as they came in the entrance hall. He saw Harry's look of pain upon his face and immediately wanted to know what was going on. It was explained to him on the way up to Dumbledore's office, "Treacle Tart," Snape muttered, the door flying open and they ran inside, Remus first, followed by Severus.  
  
Harry felt a sudden force stop him, his father putting an arm in front of his chest to make sure he didn't come any closer. A look of horror spread across their faces as they saw Bellatrix Lestrange, Macnair, and none other than Lucius Malfoy standing infront of Dumbledore with their wands point directly at him. 


	9. A Gryffindor Surprise

Harry stared; the three Death Eaters had somehow gotten past the defenses and landed in Dumbledore's office. Snape and Remus crouched down defensively and whipped their own wands out. So far they hadn't been noticed, leaving them the element of surprise, which they definitely used to their advantage. "STUPIFY!" Remus, Snape, and to their surprise, Harry joined in, catching Malfoy in the back. Dumbledore looked up, unsurprised to see them in his office and casually cast a spell to bind them together so the Death Eaters couldn't move. Severus grabbed the wands that had been dropped and placed them in his cloak.  
  
"Headmaster, what happened here?" Remus looked down, grimacing at the stunned face of Bellatrix. "And how on earth did they manage to get in here in the first place?"  
  
Dumbledore put up a hand, telling him to be silent. "I don't rightly know myself. They didn't apparate, which would've been easy to detect, not to mention impossible. I suspect Voldemort was able to construct a portkey that transported them here. Before you stunned them, they were threatening me to tell them where Harry was. But that shouldn't come as a surprise. Mr. Malfoy here was particularly enjoying his role of attempting the Crucio curse. I do believe we haven't seen the last of them, nor have we ridded the entire school of Death Eaters. Be on your toes until I'm able to make the rounds to check. Oh, Remus, would you be so nice as to go collect Tonks and Minerva for me? I need to place some guards here until we are able to get a hold of the authorities to collect their captives."  
  
Remus nodded and swiftly headed out of the room, leaving Harry and Severus in the office with Dumbledore. "Sir? You said they were looking for me, what was the reason this time?"  
  
The old man sighed; his eyes weren't twinkling like they had before. "There is one other thing I neglected to tell you at the end of last year. Take a look in this book," He requested, summoning the book from a large shelf and placing it in Harry's hands. The boy opened it up, flipping through the pages and seeing pictures of the founders of the school.  
  
Harry stared back at Dumbledore and asked plainly, "What does this have to do with me?" "Keep looking, more towards the back of the book." He complied, his father standing over his shoulder, curious to know what Dumbledore was getting at. A minute later he came across a page with Tom Riddle's picture on it, interested in knowing what he was doing in the book, he read the caption.  
  
Tom Riddle, now known as Lord Voldemort, is the heir of the late Salazar Slytherin. He has the ability to speak Parseltongue, a gift noted to remain generally in that line of successors. He now continues on his ancestor's work, trying to purge the world of the Muggle-born witches and wizards. Voldemort has one wizard standing in his way, that being the Heir of Godric Gryffindor.  
  
Harry blinked a few times and turned to the next page. His mouth dropped open as a saw a picture of himself staring back at him. "Yes Harry, you're Godric's ancestor and the Heir of Gryffindor."  
  
The boy couldn't do anything but just stare at Dumbledore. Severus couldn't do anything but gape either, wondering how on earth his son could be the Heir of Gryffindor. "S-sir?" The man sputtered.  
  
"Keep your feelings towards Gryffindor to yourself please, Severus, this isn't the place nor time. Harry, I'd suspected this ever since you'd pulled the sword out of the hat down in the Chamber of Secrets." A flick of the wand and a letter appeared in his hand. "This has been in possession of the headmasters since the founders appointed someone to run the school. Godric wouldn't trust anyone else with the task."  
  
Harry opened it up, curious to know what it was and had been written inside:  
  
To my Heir, Harry. You are my heir, as I'm sure you now know if you are reading this letter. I don't know what has been happening, other than the Heir of Slytherin has appeared in the midst of your world, and according to a prophecy made by Helga Hufflepuff, you're the only one who is able to stop him. From what we've been told, his powers will be extraordinary and none other than you will be able to stop him. I suspect you already know you're capable of wandless magic, but you need to work on that, as it's your weakness. Two wands with the same core are practically useless against each other in a duel. Being my heir, you'll be able to do this more readily than most wizards and you'll now find a chest enclosed with my legacy to you. This will help you with your upcoming task and I leave with saying, "Good luck and we all have faith in you." Godric Gryffindor  
  
Harry's gaze flickered to his left, where a large trunk in the colors of gold and red stood. Not knowing why, he waved a hand infront of the lock and it instantly opened for him. Inside were cloaks of red and gold, bearing trimmings of lions, a small ruby amulet with the house crest on the back, a signet ring, and a scabbard for the sword sitting on Dumbledore's desk. He placed the ring onto his finger and it felt rather awkward since he'd never had a ring before. Also, he put the amulet around his neck, feeling a sudden warmth flood throughout him as well as removing any trace of tiredness in his body.  
  
"You're strong Harry, descended from one of the greatest wizards of all time, but you also have an advantage. The blood of Slytherin runs through your veins as well from both your father and the night where he transferred part of his powers to you. And I recognize that amulet you know wear around your neck from a book of mine. It will assist you on using wandless magic as well as casting normal spells since Godric placed his own power into it. It will take time to understand it, but you'll have an advantage once you master it."  
  
Snape had long since left the room, his mind was reeling with questions and a confliction of his son was entering his mind again. It was hard enough to accept that the boy he'd tortured all these years was actually his son, but now finding out he was the Heir of Gryffindor was just pushing his understanding to the limit. Everyone knew he hated Gryffindors, it wasn't precisely hard to tell with how unfair he always treated them. He didn't know what to think of Harry anymore, especially since he'd starting feeling more comfortable with the idea, but now, he shook his head and threw his hands up in frustration. Severus was interrupted a moment later by Remus grabbing his arm with Tonks and McGonagall at his feet.  
  
"Severus? Is everything all right? Dumbledore didn't send you out to get more help did he? Are the Death Eaters still tied up?" Remus asked, his eyes full of worry. Snape turned his head, not wanting to see the man's face. "They're fine. I needed some time to myself," He snapped, walking down towards his office.  
  
By the time the thee professors entered the office, Harry had put on his newly received robes with a pair of dragon hide boots along with binding his long hair back with a leather thong. Tonks stared, McGonagall let out a soft squeak and Remus stumbled over from the surprise. "H-harry?" Tonks started, "What's going on?" McGonagall finished.  
  
"I, umm, seem to be the Heir of Gryffindor..." He muttered, kicking Malfoy to see if he was still out cold. The man grunted softly, his lips locked in a permanent sneer. Dumbledore took over, explaining it to them while Harry gazed out the window, as he often liked to do now. What was his father going to think now? He noted that Severus had left the room not long after he'd found out, a shocked look on his face and almost a hurt expression. He'd just found out about his new family and Harry'd finally started to accept his father and didn't want to lose that now.  
  
"Sir?" Harry looked up at Dumbledore. "Is my father going to hate me even more than because of this?" The old man's gaze towards Harry was sympathetic. "I don't rightly know. He's had a grudge against Gryffindor since his beginning here and this might have hurt him more than you can imagine."  
  
"Not to interrupt this important talk, but someone needs to take care of these three," Remus said, enjoying the fact that he was able to kick Macnair in the head. "Ahh thank you, Remus." He clapped his hands a few times and Fudge appeared in the room. "What do you want, Albus?" The man looked annoyed, but blinked in surprise a few times when his eyes landed on Harry.  
  
"Cornelius, I do believe you recognize these three Death Eaters. They broke into the school and were stopped by Severus Snape, Remus Lupin, and Harry here did a brilliant job of stopping Lucius in his tracks. If you'd like, we can wake them up and if needed, a bottle of Vertiserum can be obtained if they are not willing to talk."  
  
The Minister of Magic looked around and scowled, "So do it."  
  
Dumbledore waved his wand, "Enervate!" and the three Death Eaters stirred, still bound with the ropes and wands well out of their grasps having left the room with a distressed Snape. Malfoy looked particularly hateful at Harry, knowing that the boy had already been told who he was.  
  
"Malfoy, Bellatrix, Macnair, would you care to tell us why you're here? We can do this the easy way or with the help of Vertiserum." Dumbledore questioned calmly. Bellatrix spat at him. "I see we're going with the hard way. Minerva, if you please." The professor complied and placed three drops of the potion on their tongues.  
  
"Now, why were you here?"  
  
"The Dark Lord told us that Harry Potter was the Heir of Gryffindor and was the only one standing in his way of his plot." Malfoy said in a listless voice, not being able to help what he was saying. "He wanted to get the boy before he'd found out about his heritage and gained the help of Gryffindor. We were told to kill everyone."  
  
Fudge raised his eyes, looking at Macnair. "I would've suspected better of you. Thank you, Albus." He muttered grudgingly as he called for a few other wizards to take the three Death Eaters into custody.  
  
Once the room was emptied of Fudge and his captives, the professors and Harry sat down, not being able to say a word. A look from Harry's face, and they all could tell what he was thinking- what was his father going to think now?  
  
Snape rested his head against the stonewall of the dungeon. His mind was racing back and forth, utterly confused as to what to do. "Severus, you can't hate him. He needs you more than ever now. He's scared, that I'm sure you know, but he needs someone to be with him now. Someone to say they'll be there for him no matter what happens," came the voice of Albus, seemingly to have appeared out of nowhere.  
  
"He already probably hates me for hating Gryffindor so much." "Are you sure of that?" "No," Snape admitted, "He had his mind closed to me when I tried to look into it." "I sensed that right now he's worried more that you'll want nothing to do with him now rather than your past feelings. You two will need to talk this out at some point."  
  
"Sir?" Came the soft voice of Harry a few minutes later, "Perhaps you could leave my father and I alone for a bit. I need to talk to him." Dumbledore smiled and gave his leave, and Harry sat down in the chair next to Severus. "Do you hate me?"  
  
Snape was startled by the bluntness of the question, but then again he'd known it would've come sooner or later. "No. Why would you think that?" He asked, wanting to know the boy's reasoning behind the claim first. "You have always given off the impression that you hate Gryffindors more than any other students in the school. Now that you found out I'm the Heir to the house and man, it'd make sense that you'd hate me." "I don't hate you. No, I couldn't hate my own son for what he is." Finally being able to tell himself this since he'd heard. "So what do we do now?" "First you're going to go to bed. Tomorrow is Monday and you know you have Double Potions first thing."  
  
He watched as the boy groaned and laughed to himself. He might be an Heir, but he's still a teenage boy in school who definitely didn't want to be studying for NEWTs.  
  
"I might be an Heir, but that doesn't stop me from wanting to skive off that class tomorrow," Harry joked, seeming to have read his mind.  
  
Snape patted him on the back and escorted him back to his quarters, which had now been done up in the Heir's colors along with his new belongings transported near his bed. Harry closed the door, finally having some time to himself, but was too tired to care, and finally passed out on the bed. 


	10. Contemplations

Harry rolled over and groaned. Monday mornings weren't something he was particularly looking forward to. As much as he didn't have to worry about being poisoned, potions still wasn't his favorite class. Not to mention he still hadn't changed Draco back to his original state, but he was certain that everyone else was still finding it rather amusing. The scar on his head ached numbly, he wasn't entirely sure why either since he'd been surprisingly empty of dreams lately. Grumbling, he grabbed his new cloaks, bound his long hair back, and cursed to himself as he attempted to get his leather boots on.  
  
"Bloody things, can't see why they have to be so bugging hard to get on." Harry muttered to no one in particular. "Just once it'd be nice to be someone who wasn't always getting into trouble, famous, or ruddy attracted to things that cause problems."  
  
"Unfortunately, that's not the case today, Harry. Come on, time for breakfast and I'd prefer you eat here at least unlike those dreadful Dursleys didn't remember to do."  
  
Harry turned his gaze on to his father whom decided it was fun to sneak up behind him without warning. "How long have you been there for?" "Long enough to see you've been dawdling again. But I'm serious; I want you to be eating properly here since you're already thin enough as it is."  
  
The boy nodded, hating to admit it, but he felt rather regal in his new robes and heirlooms. Striding out of his chambers he was instantly smothered by Remus who was still bustling with questions that hadn't been answered the night before. Harry grimaced as his father hit the man with a simple silence spell, but had to agree, it was nice to not have to answer any questions at the moment.  
  
Everyone in the Great Hall instantly realized something had happened. Harry had entered after being removed from the Gryffindor dormitories, looking more like Snape than ever, and wearing what most of them were able to recognize, the robes of the late Godric Gryffindor. The whispers started immediately, the hole room buzzing with noise as the boy sat down by his close friends, wishing once again that he didn't have to be here and out in the open with all the people. He was definitely starting to act like his father and favor being along more and more.  
  
He ate a simple breakfast of toast, a few pieces of bacon and orange juice before excusing himself from the table, wanting time to think as he made his way down towards the cold potions room. Everything always happened to him. First everything that led up to his 6th year, then finding out James wasn't his real dad, but the greasy git of a potions professor, being bit by Remus, and now finding himself as the Heir of Gryffindor. How on earth could things possibly get worse, he thought as comfort, realizing not too much could make his life any more difficult than it already was.  
  
Being the first one inside the class, he walked up to his father and sat down since he knew that he'd have about 20 minutes before people started showing up. "Dad? Why is it always me?"  
  
Severus looked up at his son; surprised to see just how much he'd grown in the last month, almost as tall as himself. "That, Harry, I'm not sure of. I wish it wasn't for your sake, but these things seem to be drawn magnetically towards you," he said, trying to console the boy, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "But you should be proud to wear your Heir cloaks, even if they are going to bring you more unwanted attention."  
  
The boy nodded, settling himself back at his seat and pondering over the last month. As bad as he made it out to be, he realized it wasn't entirely bad since he had a living relative, and a father no less. Hermione came strolling in moments later, a large stack of books threatening to fall out of her arms.  
  
"Harry! Are you feeling better? I noticed you weren't eating much at breakfast nor where you very talkative."  
  
Severus threw a glance over at the boy, who'd immediately turned his head away. "Harry, you told me you were going to eat. Do I have to have Miss Granger or Mr. Weasley make sure you eat before leaving the table? Like I said before, you're too thin as it is!"  
  
To Harry's luck, at that very moment Draco came running through the halls. "POTTER! Take this spell off of me! It's been long enough for you to know the reversal! Either that or you... could ask your father," the blonde said with a sneer. Severus blinked, he knew the boy could be smart when he wanted to be, but managing to put Harry and himself together must have taken some actual thought process. Unlike everyone else who'd figured it out, Draco was the first to actually say something, not to mention a very dangerous enemy to know since Lucius still had connections with Voldemort.  
  
"Yes, Mr. Potter if you'd be so kind, I think Malfoy here has served his time long enough as a female," He drawled, not wanting to give Draco any hint of acknowledgement. His son nodded, muttering the reverse spell and watched as Malfoy was once again male.  
  
"Happy now?" Harry spat, flopping back down at his seat, agitated now more than anything. Around that time the rest of the class piled in and Snape was forced to start the class. It was just another routine NEWT standard potion that many of the students were already having problems with. Although, to his delight, Harry had managed to get his finished correctly by the end of class.  
  
For the next month, Harry's life simply just went on. He had his classes, homework, talks with either his dad or Remus, once in awhile Albus, but he was still not pulling out of that slump he'd gone into. Halloween was approaching quickly, and Harry knew what that meant, making him even more irritable than usual. If someone hadn't already figured out Harry's lineage yet, they did now with the boy's almost always scowling face and glares he cast out to people. He did honor his father's request to make sure he ate though, his frame starting to fill out and leave him with a rather toned body than the scrawny one he'd had just a couple years previous. His thoughts drifted back to the night's events to take place, banging his head on the wall and hiding in his room, completely skiving off any class that he'd had that day.  
  
"Harry, it's time to go."  
  
The boy nodded listlessly and wandered behind Remus as they made their way up to The Room of Requirements. It wasn't quite dark yet and Harry sat down on the bed and curled up. He didn't know how he'd ever get used to this, even with the potion and his father and friends looking out for him. At that moment the door flew open with Severus carrying two goblets. "Sorry, still taste as bad as always." He muttered, looking at the taste of disgust on their faces.  
  
Once again Severus had to hold Harry's limbs as he started changing since he wanted nothing more than to claw himself to death. It went pretty much simultaneously as it had the previous month, Harry trying to hide himself away from the other two and Severus placing a charm around the bed. Classes were in the morning, but when Harry woke up, even with the help of the potions, he was in no condition to be out of bed. Snape sighed, regretting to have to leave his boy alone for the day with Remus, but missing his classes wasn't entirely a great idea, not with those bumbling 1st and 2nd years he had today.  
  
The days went on, nothing much happened of great importance to Harry's life for a change, letting him go by unnoticed for the time being. His scar hurt once in awhile, but nothing like it had that night of the Death Eater attack. The dreams of Voldemort and his followers had stopped, but Harry suspected that Severus had placed something into his drink at one point to have it do so, but he wasn't complaining. For the first time in the last few years he was actually able to sleep without fear of seeing Cedric's death or the fight at the Ministry.  
  
Snow began to float around the grounds, making Harry shiver when he was outside walking by himself and hoping for some peace and quiet. He'd become quite hard to find these days unless it was Remus, his dad, or Albus. Even to his friends he rarely would be seen around them. Severus was concerned about this, knowing that the boy was normally full of mischief and talking with his friends. Harry had been particularly distant around Snape, and the man couldn't figure out why.  
  
One night as all the students were making their way off to their homes for the Christmas holiday, Severus was able to corner Harry for the first time in about a week. "Harry, please, talk to me. Why have you been avoiding everyone lately?"  
  
Harry closed his eyes tightly, knowing that he would've been caught sooner or later. "My thoughts have been on the prophecy that the Headmaster told me about last year." "Why? What was it?" This caught Harry by surprise, he'd thought Dumbledore would've told Snape about what had to be done. "Voldemort will either kill me or I will kill him." It was all that needed to be said, Severus pulling him in for a big hug, sensing he could use one right about that time.  
  
Since most of the students had left, only a few Ravenclaws and Gryffindors had remained for the holidays, making Harry at least happy with the absence of Slytherins for a week. For him, he was delighted at the strange calmness that surrounded the building at the moment instead of the usual chaotic nature.  
  
"Happy Christmas, Harry!"  
  
Was the next thing he'd heard, rubbing his eyes and seeing both Remus and Severus standing at the foot of his bed. Practically dragging him out of bed, leaving only time enough for him to get dressed, they made way for the Great Hall. Since there were only a few there, the Professors and students sat at one table, enjoying the breakfast the house-elves made. Wizard crackers were placed along the table, startling someone every time they'd go off. Before Harry left the table, he'd gotten quite the collection of prank supplies and sweets.  
  
"Hey, Harry, c'mon!" Remus said, jumping around like a little boy, "There are more presents back at the room!"  
  
Severus led them off towards his own personal chambers, surprising Harry completely when he opened it up and was completely decked out in Christmas decorations. "Wow..." was all he could say. A large pile of presents was under the tree, more than he'd seen before in his life. For the first time in awhile, he cracked a smile and tossed Remus a gift. Harry received the normal from his friends, candy and quidditch books. Remus's was a large book of hexes that looked promising to try out on Malfoy when he returned to the halls. From his father he got a many books, mostly related to potions of course, and a small ring that had at one time been Lily's that Severus decided it was time to pass on. Harry smiled to himself, glad to have something of his mother after all this time.  
  
"Dad? Here, this is for you."  
  
Severus looked questioningly at it, not really having been expecting anything, but tore opening the package and pulled out a small picture book. His gaze softened as he looked through the pictures of Lily from school and afterwards, pictures of Harry in there too before he'd been shipped to the Dursleys. "Hagrid gave me the pictures in my first year and I thought maybe you'd like your own set of them..." He trailed off, seeing a large smile on his father's face and what looked like the illusion of a tear in his eye.  
  
"Thank you Harry, this is definitely more than I could've asked for."  
  
Albus came through the doors a few minutes later, finding the trio deep into their newly received books. "Harry, Severus, there is a matter we need to discuss. Remus, you're welcome to stay here as well since you might be asked to help out. It's time for Harry to start his training in wandless magic. I'd put it off too long already, but we must start very soon, next week after the full moon. It will be hard and exhausting, but the Death Eaters are getting agitated again and Harry is in danger yet again, as I'm sure you know, Severus."  
  
The man nodded, not wanting Harry to hear that he'd been summoned to Voldemort's meetings a few times during those past months, nor to worry. Already he could see his son's eyes peering up at him, curious as to know what had been going on.  
  
"You haven't told him then of their plots? Or rather he hasn't seen what has been going on in his dreams?" "No, Headmaster, I've been giving him dreamless sleep potions nightly to make sure he's able to get rest. I hadn't known about the prophecy's contents at the time, but hearing it just recently, I think he has enough to deal with at the time than with worrying about the meetings."  
  
Albus sighed, clearly not happy with Severus's actions. "I suppose, but I'd suggest informing the boy before they do decide to go ahead in their plans. And be wary of young Draco, he sent word to his father on your newfound relationship to Harry and I would be careful next time you are summoned."  
  
Harry was getting particularly annoyed now, sick of having things kept from him. "What is going on!?" He shouted, louder than he would've liked, but getting his point across either way.  
  
Severus lowered his head. "You know that the Death Eaters are after you now that you've found out your Gryffindor's heir, but now that they've found out that you're my son which is going to prove disastrous when I'm summoned next. He'll either flat out kill me or find a way to add you to his own ranks of Death Eaters. And with your current powers, I have no doubts he'd prefer the later, knowing then no one could stop him."  
  
"Great. Just great. Just one question."  
  
"Oh?" His father asked, looking down at him concerned.  
  
"How big of trouble am I going to be in after I test this entire book of hexes on Malfoy for revenge of all the trouble he's now caused?"  
  
Snape groaned, wondering just how long it'd take for grey hairs to make their appearance. 


	11. Training with Pain

The walk up to Dumbledore's office turned into a long and anxious walk as he finally neared the Gryphon statue to the stairway up. Harry groaned softly; his first meeting was tonight with his Headmaster on wandless magic. Tonks, as good of a DADA teacher as she was, couldn't master the skill herself, leaving the only other person who could to help Harry along the way. He knew it wasn't going to be easy as to the fact that his dad had loaded up his bag with strength and energy potions. Since the full moon was just the other day, most of his body was still trying to recuperate from the ordeal.  
  
"Harry, come in and have a seat. Tonight may very well be hard on you as to the fact that it will be your first time actually attempting wandless magic without the help of frustration or fear as many are capable of performing. But first, have a biscuit."  
  
He turned his wand over to his professor for the night so he wouldn't be tempted to make use of it by accident. Dumbledore explained the process of being able to make the magic come from inside, instead of controlled through a wand. Most wizards weren't able to call on the magic without the help of a magic core such as a hair of a unicorn tail or a phoenix tail feather. For those who could, they'd have the distinct advantage in battle since they wouldn't have to rely on a wand incase it was taken away or broken. For the first half an hour of working on calling the magic, Harry felt rather foolish since nothing happened. At that point he was getting narked from everything and felt something inside rise from lying dormant for so long. An explosion of light occurred, leaving Dumbledore sprouting little boils around his entire body.  
  
"Oh my," He muttered, grabbing his own wand and waving it across his body to cure it of the boils. "Now, if you'd care to try that again, but in a more, let's say, less painful way. Just use the same feeling to gather the magic and use a bit more restraint in where it goes."  
  
The boy grinned slightly, seeing how his headmaster had been covered in boils, showing for the first time just how human he was. He was able to do the same again, this time just doing a simple disarming spell, landing Dumbledore's wand half way across the room. The man shook his head slightly, trying to regain his composure. "That was excellent for a first night of training. Be here again tomorrow for the next lesson, and do be good and take the potions your father made for you. They will help on keeping up your strength for once classes resume and you have those late nights of homework again." He said with a twinkle in his eye.  
  
Harry shut his eyes, squeezing them painfully as he tried to rub the pain out of his head. The constant relying on himself than a wand really took its toll on him after that long. He reached into the bag and grabbed the potion, but didn't make it in time, collapsing to the floor again. Remus had been patrolling the grounds at the time and saw the boy go down hard, cracking his wrist in the process. Sighing, he pulled out his wand and conjured the boy onto a stretcher and floated him up towards the hospital. Some times it seemed as if it'd be better to just give him his own bed in that ward.  
  
"Now what's wrong with him, Remus?" Poppy asked, annoyance definitely present in her voice. "Sorry, Poppy, seems Harry here was studying with Albus and passed out, breaking his wrist as well." The nurse scowled again, mending his wrist and setting it in a sling until the pain dissipated, as well as pouring a thick potion down his throat that would let him rest properly.  
  
"What's going on here?" Severus asked, his cloak billowing as he walked into the room and saw Harry's arm in the sling. "He was coming back from Albus's office as you know, and evidently the session was more difficult than he'd thought. I saw him attempt to get out your potions, but couldn't make it in time and he fell, breaking his left wrist."  
  
Severus scowled loudly, thinking that Harry would never be out of the hospital ward completely. Shoving Poppy aside, he gathered Harry in his arms and walked out, much to the nurse's dismay and added threats. His son should be somewhere he liked, not a place that he'd rather not return to again. Instead of taking the boy to his quarters, Severus decided that his personal chambers might be a good idea tonight so he'd be able to watch his son incase anything was wrong. Harry was set on a soft couch and covered with an extra thick blanket since the dungeons were cold this time of year.  
  
"Wh-where am I?" Harry yawned, waking up a few hours later. Snape blinked, his own eyes opening at the sudden break of silence. "Glad to see you're awake, Harry. Didn't know how long you were going to be out this time. As for where you are, it's my own room since I didn't think yours had an extra bed." "Now what h-h-appened?" he finally got out after a long yawn. Severus smiled and explained the night's happenings again to Harry, glad to see him awake already. His friends would be back tomorrow and he really had no intention of telling them their friend was unconscious again.  
  
"Ugh...Why is it always me?" Snape laughed and ruffled the boy's hair. Harry fell back asleep soon, leaving Severus to get his own well-needed rest.  
  
In the day's events, Snape hadn't gotten the time to give the boy dreamless sleep potion, and that night he was summoned to the Death Eaters. He apparated as soon as summoned, much to his dislike, and donned the necessary apparel on the way there.  
  
"Severus, my loyal servant, there has been some interesting news that you have disclosed from me. Malfoy has told me about your new relationship to young Potter." Voldemort asked directly, not bothering with formalities. "My lord, I'm sorry. I hadn't known until recently when I was informed of this information. As of late I have been attempting to earn the boy's trust in hopes of getting him to join us when he reaches of age as I'm sure you'd be delighted with." "There is still the matter of not providing me with this information. CRUCIO!"  
  
Harry woke with a start, gasping for breath and saw his father lying on the floor, obviously in pain. "Dad, dad, hang in there," he muttered, trying to decide what to do. At that moment though, saving him the stress, Albus came bursting through the doors, Poppy at his side with a collection of potions in her arms. Harry's own body was shaking with pain, but he wouldn't show it, not when his father needed the attention more than he. Poppy had already poured the potions down Snape's throat and helped him over to the bed, and finally caught site of Harry.  
  
"Are you daft boy?! Trying to hide the fact that you're hurt, get over here now and take these potions before I haul you up to the hospital wing permanently!" Harry simply nodded, not wanting to be tugged all that way by the ear, and took the medicine from her quietly and lay back on the couch.  
  
"Now you two are to stay here at least until lunch. No classes or teaching classes for that matter until after tomorrow. Not unless you'd like to find yourself in my ward for longer than you wish."  
  
Both father and son nodded quickly, wanting the nurse gone as soon as possible. Albus shooed her out gently and came back over towards them. Harry was exhausted and had no intention of leaving the bed any time soon. His headmaster on the other hand had other thoughts.  
  
"Severus, Harry, I'm going to have to make both of you work harder now. Severus, you already know what is asked of you so I needn't go into detail. As for you Harry, I need to have you in my office every night now to work on your magic. With the Death Eaters knowing now exposing your lineage, they will be constantly looking for you and you're going to need to find a way to defend yourself. It's not going to be easy, far from it, and I also need you to have your father work with you on your Occlumency a bit more so you can hopefully stop these connections to the meetings."  
  
The boy, attempting to nod in acknowledgement, was already halfway passed out on his makeshift bed. Albus went to wake him up, but was stopped by Severus. "Sir, he really needs the sleep. The full moon not too long ago, your session last night, and now the Crucio curse, I think letting him sleep for the day wouldn't be too much to ask."  
  
The Headmaster nodded, sweeping out of the door to leave father and son to a good, healthy rest. The man was first up later that day, having heard the footsteps of Slytherins returning to their dorm rooms, and not to mention he was more used to the effects of the Crucio curse. Harry muttered in his sleep a few times, tossing and turning as if he were in pain if he stayed in one position for too long. It could've been, the curse was known to last awhile, especially if one wasn't used to it.  
  
Most of the Slytherins were back when Snape took a look into the common room. Draco of course was sitting on the large couch with a smug look on his face. At the moment all the man wanted to do was smack the boy across the room for what he and his father had done. "I trust you all had a pleasant vacation. Classes begin again tomorrow and if any of you have potions with me, I will let you know that it has been cancelled."  
  
Harry slept the rest of the day, including into the night as well. Severus assumed he must be at least rid of the dreams for a bit to not wake up for so long. Just in time for breakfast the next morning was the first time Harry opened his eyes since Poppy's threat. His father noticed, walking over quickly to see how he was. "Harry, are you alright? You slept all of yesterday." "Ugh...I feel like I got hit by the Hogwarts Express. And I think I'm going to fall asleep again soon if I don't get some food." "Just in time. Breakfast is soon if you can hurry up and get dressed."  
  
As Harry got out of bed, he was clumsy and stumbled rather easily. He managed to get his clothes on without falling over, but clung to his father's arm as they headed up to the Great Hall. Being woozy, he was helped to the table the entire way getting some rather odd looks from Slytherin house.  
  
"Well, it looks as though our Potions Master has gone soft," Draco said with a sneer, walking up behind the pair. "Hanging out with the famous Harry Potter and of course, werewolves." He added, putting a particular nasty tone in his voice about that, Snape instantly realizing he knew. "I'm sure the Dark Lord will love knowing that his precious Death Eater has been keeping information from him once again."  
  
Snape's pale face was white, grabbing Harry's shoulder for support. "Draco, if you know what's good for you, you'll leave both Harry and I alone, nor will you pass this information on to anyone if you, yourself aren't ready to face the consequences."  
  
He knew it was futile. The fact that Harry was a werewolf would be out among both Death Eaters and Hogwarts before the next day started. During the entire conversation between Snape and Draco, Harry remained perfectly still, fearing now what was going to happen. He knew it would've been out sooner or later, just as his true father, but he had hoped it would've taken longer.  
  
Severus shook his head. "I didn't want to do this, but I think I'm going to have to move your quarters into my own private chambers. I do have a small room that you can use and it might be safer there than with Lupin at the moment. The man is intelligent, but keeping those people out of the room might slip his mind at times."  
  
The switch occurred that day while the rest of the students were at class and of course Harry and Severus were in direct violation of their orders from Pomfrey. A little later, around dusk, Snape fell to his knees, clutching at his arm. "Harry, drink this potion and go straight to Dumbledore's office. I'm being summoned."  
  
The boy stared at him, not wanting to drink the potion so he could know what was going on, but Severus sensed this and forced him to right there.  
  
"Go. Now. Harry, I'll be alright, just make sure to take care of yourself, please." Harry stood there, dumbfounded as to what to do or just how mangled his father was going to come back from this one like. 


	12. Return from Summons

Harry sat stiffly on the bed, his eyes wide with fear at the moment from seeing his father disappear off to a meeting. It scared him; always fearing how he'd come back, the Crucio curse did its evil deed and leaving the man in a sore state for a few days, even with the help of the potions. This time he wasn't able to tell what was going on at the summoning either; the cursed potion he was given didn't let him have that vision he normally could. For the first time he really did want to know what had happened, pacing back and forth now, waiting for Severus to come back.  
  
"Harry? Are you alright?" Dumbledore asked softly, having seemingly to have appeared in the room. The boy shook his head, literally scared out of his mind about the possibility of losing his father with every meeting he attended. The old man let out a loud sigh sensing what was happening, "I know Harry, and this is hard. But Severus has an astounding ability to cover up his lies to Voldemort. And don't think twice about the potion you were given. Believe me, not knowing can sometimes be the best way to be able to get through things."  
  
The boy nodded, not a word escaping his lips. To him, everything was terrifying him now. A tear formed in his eye and collapsed down onto the bed again, time passed slowly and a little later Remus shown up and carefully wrapped an arm around Harry's shoulder.  
  
"He's a good man, Harry, even if we never said it before. And he's capable of taking care of himself, and now, well, he's got an added incentive now to make sure he does get back."  
  
Once again the boy just nodded, not being able to talk at the moment. Luck was with him for at that instant, a pop came from inside the room and Severus appeared on his hands and knees, gasping in breath. "DAD!!!!" Harry screamed, talking for the first time since his father left. The man was rather startled; having thought Harry was annoyed at him for forcing a potion down his throat, but shook it off.  
  
"H-Harry," he started hoarsely, but a wave of pain came over him as he tried to stand. Madam Pomfrey had already appeared and was looking rather narked about the entire situation. She bustled about doing necessary healings to his skin, which had been burned this time, and thrust a bottle of purple liquid into his hands and using a rather forceful tone, told him to drink it, now. Snape was smart enough to know better than to refuse that look, having worn it himself many times.  
  
Dumbledore and Remus exchanged glanced before departing, leaving father and son to talk.  
  
"Dad, what happened? You don't usually come back this bad, do you?" Asking desperately. "Malfoy decided it was rather amusing to inform Voldemort of your werewolf- ism," his voice dripping with hatred. "Needless to say, Voldemort wasn't terribly pleased that I kept this to myself and decided to throw in a couple of random curses as well as the Crucio one. I am very sorry about what I'm going to do, but you're in dire need of sleep."  
  
Harry felt a liquid suddenly being poured down his throat and collapsed on the couch beside his father's bed. Darkness overtook him almost immediately.  
  
Severus looked at his now resting son, knowing he should be doing the same, but his mind was going a mile a minute. The Dark Lord knew about Harry, knew about the fact that his son was a werewolf, and the Heir of Gryffindor as well. Things couldn't be going worse and not to mention now he was beginning to be suspected of being a traitor. Similar thoughts entertained his time until he as well was able to drift off to sleep.  
  
"Good morning father, are you feeling better today?" Asked the boy, sitting at the foot of his bed. Severus got a rather good look at him for the first time in awhile. Changes were still occurring, that hadn't exactly stopped. His hair was a bit past his shoulders and flipped out at the ends, accenting the shape of his face rather nicely. He'd completely stopped wearing the glasses that he'd noticed Harry recently taking on and off. The height really surprised him as his boy stood up, realizing that he was only a few inches shorter and himself. "Much better than I was last night. I do hope you aren't too angry with me for last night." The boy blinked.  
  
"Mad?" "About shoving the potion down your throat."  
  
"Oh, that. No worries, getting a nice sleep like that was one of the best things I could've asked for at the time."  
  
Severus smiled to himself, glad he hasn't done something stupid, and raised himself off the bed to get dressed for breakfast. Harry had already donned his Heir robes, it was still beyond him how he could've spawned a bloody Gryffindor, not to mention the ruddy Heir, but he put that aside for the moment and went into the bathroom to take a shower. The water always helped relax his muscles and it was no different this time. That is, until he noticed a glob of goo had been magically put onto his hair that he guessed was shampoo a moment later. Grudgingly he worked it in, getting rid of some of the grease that had been collected in there for who knows how long. He dried off and looked into the mirror were his hair hung rather nicely for a change, as it didn't have the layers of grease on it to press it down. "Hmm, I'll have to remember to thank him for that..." he mused, rather liking the reflection in the mirror.  
  
Harry looked up from a book as he saw his father come in and had a satisfied look on his face. "Satisfied, Harry?" A smirked crossed the young face and studied his father's appearance. "I'd say so since I know I'll never be able to get you to wear any other color besides black."  
  
Snape rolled his eyes and walked brusquely out of the room and up towards the dining hall, leaving Harry running behind to keep up with the long strides.  
  
"Harry! Haven't seen you around for a while. How've you been?" Tonks asked, looking down at the boy. "Oh uh, hi Professor, haven't see you in a long time. Sorry about missing class..." He looked rather ashamed. "Oh don't be, honestly I don't know why you're even in the class. Half the time I swear you know what's going on better than I do!" Harry blushed deeply and finally entered the Great Hall, looking forward to some well-needed food.  
  
Later that afternoon Harry found himself inside Remus's room while Severus was attempting a futile battle of potion's classes with first years. He was enjoying the break between his classes at the moment while getting beaten rather badly in a game of Wizard's Chess.  
  
"Harry, I have a question..." "Shoot." "Well, just wondering why you haven't attempted your Animagus form again since the night of, well, you know." "Other than the fact that I keep passing out with dangerous werewolves present..." He joked, his face becoming more serious. "I think it's more to do with the fact that during the summer I'd still believed James as my father and wanted to live up to the family name. Now, well, I'm not sure dad would want me to or if it's just another thing that's dangerous. And err, I didn't know if the werewolf thing would make a difference." "You make an excellent point, but I don't think your father would be angry with that seeing it would give you another advantage against Voldemort. As for being a werewolf and an Animagus, just think of it as being an added benefit." "Well, then what are we waiting for?" Harry asked, a devious grin on that face of his.  
  
Snape was exhausted to say the least, from last night and teaching those rather dull minded Hufflepuffs, he felt as if he could sleep a week without it doing any real good. He entered his room, hoping to get a bit of extra sleep in before his son came running around. To his surprise, there was a rather large black leopard sprawled across his bed with a lightning bolt- shaped scar on its forehead.  
  
"My, my, aren't we talented," Severus drawled, motioning for the boy to turn back into himself. "Of course, I take after you. But really! I wasn't going to let you walk around with greasy hair the rest of your life," Harry said, attempting to keep a straight face, but failing quite miserably. "Keep that up and you might find yourself with a lovely pair of kitty ears permanently attached to that big head of yours," he replied evenly, cracking a grin.  
  
And Severus couldn't resist, grabbing his wand and startling the boy as the red ears poked through his black hair. Of course they weren't permanent, but he could let Harry think that for a while anyhow, besides, it was his turn for a good prank. With all the upcoming somberness, a few bouts of good joking could really help his mood. 


	13. The Amazing Bouncing Ferret Returns

(A/N- Sorry it took so long to get the next chapter up! I had to work all weekend and then I have my exams this week so it was hard to get near a computer to write. Not to mention I had a major writer's block that didn't want to go away.  
  
One other thing: When I started this story, I had no clue there was a thing called the Severitus challenge. So I guess this could be classified as one since I did bring Remus into the story.  
  
**Artfully Lime: CHARGE!!!!  
  
severusdraco: Hurrah! Always nice to see someone reading!  
  
RandiWeasley: Cool! Oh, by the way, I looked over what you'd said, and I think you just read the sentence wrong. I meant for Voldemort to be using the Crucio curse on Sev because he'd withheld information and was punishing him for it.  
  
Ainsley Haynes: Of course it's craziness! But it's fun to write no less!  
  
**But, other than that, R/R please!)  
  
The leopard sat on the bed; tail flicking idly every so often. He was thinking over the past events and was still utterly confused at times at how all this could happen to him. Harry sighed; he'd stayed directly in his father's room instead of finding his own and it looked over at the man asleep on the bed. It was a rare sight to see Severus looking so peaceful. Harry's mind was still racing, being the reason he was still awake, but the leopard's less complex thoughts helped him to not become overly stressed out. He'd always wanted a father, someone who he could look up to, and be loved by. It was just ironic that it was the Potions master instead of someone like Remus or Sirius. All these years the two of them had been living a lie and wearing the look of hatred on each other's face because Lily had not told anyone the truth besides Remus.  
  
The leopard swished his tail in a rather annoyed way; what would Sirius do if he'd known? It was almost was a good thing he'd never found out. Harry' didn't think that his late godfather would've taken the news too well, and quite frankly, Harry didn't feel like having one kill the other.  
  
He rolled over on his back, legs pawing the air silently as his mind still wandered. And what would his godfather have done if he'd found out about Harry's newfound Heir-ism to Godric Gryffindor? "He'd be worried that I'd get myself killed," thought the boy bitterly. Whenever he thought of Sirius, he felt sick to his stomach. He knew that he'd killed the man, him and his damn hero playing nature. Had he done what he was supposed to and asked his father to continue the Occlumency lessons, he wouldn't have seen the vision and his godfather would still be here. "Always my fault," Harry spat, although it came out like a low growl of a leopard.  
  
Snape blinked and looked drowsily at the alternate form of his son. Something was wrong and he knew it. Gently, as to not startle Harry, he wrapped his arms around the leopard's neck, trying to comfort him. Severus was a bit worried why Harry still chose to remain in the cat's body, but dismissed it, noting to himself to not stay in that form for too long at first. The cat stiffened slightly from the embrace, he'd known his father had been awake, but he wasn't sure why he'd enveloped him into a hug.  
  
The night was late, and Harry had yet to get any sleep and was soon drifting off in his father's arms. His body reverted to his natural form and soon began shivering from the cold. Severus sighed, moving the boy under the blankets and went over to the library, browsing over a book until he too passed out again for the night.  
  
"G'morning there, Harry. I was wondering if you were going to wake up in time to get down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Ahh, I see my spell casting is more adept than I thought. Those kitty ears are still attached, even after you'd changed back last night. Tsk tsk, trying to lose them that way, not so easy, now is it?"  
  
Harry's hands flew up to his head in horror, feeling the fluffy ears still attached from last night. "Agh!!! I can't go out like this! Take um off! Take. Them. Off!"  
  
"Now Harry...You know I said they were permanent."  
  
"You know they're not! C'mon! This is embarrassing!" The boy whined, looking rather hurt by the whole situation. "Besides, they're red instead of my trademark black..."  
  
"Well, that I can help out with," Severus said with a grin, grabbing his wand and changing the color to a black so they didn't stick out quite as much. "Hmm, perhaps you should ask Professor McGonagall to show you a spell to transfigure them." He added with a grin.  
  
Harry huffed loudly, stomping out of the room feeling very frustrated. He was still annoyed at his father for last night, and the kitty ears weren't exactly helping anything.  
  
"HARRY JAMES POTTER-SNAPE! Where in Merlin's beard HAVE YOU BEEN?!" Screeched Hermione, closely followed by the flaming red-headed boy. "We've been worried sick about you and here you are avoiding us for the past who knows how long!"  
  
The boy ducked his head under a sheet of black hair, not wanting to have Hermione see his ears. "Sorry, been busy," he muttered.  
  
"Oh? Too busy to see your friends and let us know how you're doing on..." She stopped, catching sight of a pointed black ear coming through his hair. "You do realize you have a lovely set of house cat ears, right?"  
  
He coughed, avoiding Ron's smirk, "Umm, compliments of a rather snarky Professor Snape?" He tried, hoping they'd take that alone.  
  
"Ahh, see mate, having him as a father does have its perks. I mean, who else could make you..." Ron stopped, bursting out in laughter until his face was streaked with tears. "Sorry...couldn't help myself."  
  
Harry's green eyes narrowed, rather irritated, and stalked off towards the Great Hall. Then he remembered he had Transfiguration first thing and groaned loudly. "Great, just great. Now I'm going to have McGonagall on my case about changing these back."  
  
The class began, everyone staring at the boy's new appearance, and even McGonagall had difficulties not laughing. Harry scowled, a rather good impression of his father, and sulked in his seat, hoping that the professor would just start the class instead of taunting him.  
  
"Well, I was going to start the class on human transformation today, but I see Mr. Potter has already given us a demonstration on that," She snickered, still glancing at his ears with mirth in her eyes. "Anyhow, please pair up with a partner and we'll attempt changing each other into random animals. You won't pick what your form will be, that's already pretty much been determined by your birth. As Mr. Potter has already done over the summer, he became an Animagus with the help of a Remus Lupin and if he'd be so kind as to demonstrate..."  
  
Harry was still glaring around the room, but gave up and walked to the center of the room and shifted into the large onyx cat. "Excellent Harry! 20 points for Gryffindor." She waved a hand, and dismissed him to his seat. Harry, feeling rather annoyed, decided to stay in his leopard form and sat down next to Ron and Hermione on the chair, tail flicking back and forth in amusement of his professor's look.  
  
"Alright, since Mr. Potter seems to think he's above the class, I shall continue on with the lesson in terms that everyone can understand. What you have your partners for is to cast a simple spell on each other to determine the animal inside that you are. This will aid you in the transformation since you'll be able to concentrate on the specific animal that you are. Not all of you will be able to do it; in fact, I doubt many will be able to at all. Now, the spell is _bestiate,_ and you'll see a small vision in your mind as to what you'll become. Let me know if you have any difficulties with this now."  
  
Ron and Hermione were partners as Harry glanced at them with emerald eyes, those being the only thing that didn't change in his cat transformation. Hermione cast the spell first, being able to get it right on the first chance and reinforced it for Ron when he went after. His eyes glazed over, putting him into a trancelike state until a few minutes went by and he looked startled to find himself back in the room.  
  
"I'm, I'm a fox!"  
  
Harry grinned with those feral teeth; it made sense with Ron's hair. How could he not be a fox with that stunning red hair? Ron picked up his wand and returned the favor to his fellow classmate, Hermione going into a dream state a minute later. A big grin grew on her face as she returned to the world of the living.  
  
"So! What are you??" Ron asked, practically jumping off the walls.  
  
"Oh no! I'm not gonna tell you. You're going to have to wait and find out after I accomplish the feat." She said with a sneaky look on her face. The two boys glanced at her with an annoyance, but left it at that. McGonagall walked about the room, looking over the pairs and occasionally stopping and asking what they'd seen. Ron seemed proud when he mentioned his, and Hermione whispered hers just low enough that even Harry's leopard ears couldn't catch what she'd said.  
  
"Well, that's enough for today. Class dismissed, with the exception of Potter, Granger and Weasley."  
  
The trio groaned. Now what had they done wrong? McGonagall gazed at them for a moment. "I asked you three to stay here for a moment because I believe you're most apt to finish the transformation, well, with the exception of Potter here who's already far ahead. If either of you would like extra help, please just come see either Remus or myself. Take Harry's example of what not to do in this case."  
  
Harry sighed softly, he knew his friends would catch up to him sooner or later, but he'd felt special having the transformation for just himself. He tried shrugging it off, noticing the odd glances he was receiving from both Ron and Hermione.  
  
"Hey Potter!" Sneer a familiar voice. "What's the matter? Couldn't find a way to get rid of those blasted cat ears? I mean, you of all people should be able to do a simple animal transformation, right?"  
  
Harry stared down at Malfoy, being taller than he now, and was idly rubbing the pendant around his neck. All the sudden sparks shot out of it and hit the blonde boy straight in the chest. Where he'd been standing, a white ferret scurried around on the floor, scared. Harry looked surprised, he'd been thinking of what Moody had done a couple years before, but he didn't know the spell or anything to make it work. His eyes filled with fear, as he knew someone was going to have his head for this.  
  
He shot out of the room, not waiting to see what happened to the ferret or to see the startled looks he was being given again by his friends. Not knowing what else to do, he fled down to the dungeons and found Severus in his office. The man blinked as his doors flew open, Harry trailing in right after.  
  
"What's the matter?" He asked calmly, noting that his son was already frantic enough as it was.  
  
"I..I..Somehow changed Malfoy into a ferret!"  
  
"You did WHAT??" The man asked, amazement creeping in with the irritation that he mostly felt at the moment. How on earth could the boy know a spell like that already?  
  
"I don't know! He was insulting me and such and I was thinking of what Moody had done the one time while toying with this pendant and well, you know the rest..."  
  
"Ahh...One moment," He muttered, sticking his head into the fireplace and called Albus. "Sir, would you mind coming down here?"  
  
Harry grumbled, upset that he'd disturbed the headmaster yet again. A bit later the old wizard appeared in the office, leaning on a cane. "You called me, Severus?"  
  
"Yes, it seems Harry here was able to turn Malfoy into a ferret with the help of this..." He replied, lifting the pendant on the boy's neck. The stone turned a dark green, and Harry could sense it was rather displeased with being touched by anyone but himself.  
  
"I was wondering when you were going to get around to figuring out how to use that, Harry," Albus said, that blasted twinkle in his eye settling right on the boy. "It helps you concentrate your magic into a specific area and with your wandless magic ability, creates spells that are of a most complex nature for one your age. I do suggest you find Mister Malfoy and remedy the situation, although, I must say, the lad looks rather amusing as a ferret. I believe Minerva mentioned something about it being his Animagus form if he so ever accomplishes the feat."  
  
Severus ushered Harry out of the office right after, wanting him to go take care of the mess he'd just created. But he had to admit that it was amusing to see the Amazing Bouncing Ferret make a return to Hogwarts. He leaned back in his chair while resting his arms behind his head, gazing around the room at apparently nothing. For the moment, things were fine, but he knew Voldemort would be calling sooner or later, and he gathered that he wasn't particularly welcome there anymore... 


End file.
